Breaking the Habit
by Cheetopet
Summary: Good. Evil. Heroes. Villains. Sounds simple right? Two sides to one coin, light versus dark and all that. At this moment, I would love nothing more but for life to be that easy. Assign traits to those categories and file away the people corresponding to them in a neat folder. The rest of the world has done it, so why can't I? Simple; I'm selfish. Story currently being rewritten.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi everyone! I've been writing this story for a while now and contemplating whether to publish or not, so I'm just going to do it while I'm feeling confident. Please let me know what you think; I'm really curious about your opinions on this! Also, the spacing is a little weird but I don't know how to fix it :/

Disclaimer: I only own my OC and part of the plot.

General info: Italicized text is thoughts and the name above each part of the story is a change in POV

 **Chapter One**

"Everyone sit down. Class is starting now." The students who were out of their seats dived down into chairs; the room was buzzing with energy and surprise at the sight of their homeroom teacher emerging from a yellow sleeping bag. Shortly before Aizawa Sensei made his unique appearance, the majority of students were chatting loudly, excited at the prospects of a new journey at UA. They questioned each other over what middle school they attended, how they did on the entrance exam, and most importantly, what Quirks each other had. Among the ruckus, a few students remained seated; one of them, Todoroki Shouto, turned his head towards the window in annoyance. He hoped an adult would come in soon so they'd shut up.

Another student who wasn't interacting with the others was a girl; she cradled her head in her hands, long hair spilling out onto the desk. Unlike the boy, however, her eyes swept over the others, taking in as much as possible. When Aizawa Sensei finally entered and removed his sleeping bag, he scanned the crowd, settling on her for a fraction of a second. The girl stared directly into his eyes, trying to relay a message. He showed no sign of acknowledging her, and addressed the students. She half- heartedly paid attention to his speech, but couldn't help feeling irritated; adults always tried to be mysterious. How was she supposed to know what that meant, or if it even meant anything? She gathered her black curls in her hands and tossed them over her shoulders, feeling them fall back to their original position. The girl pushed back the sleeves of her uniform, and quickly yanked them back down, irritation increasing. She'd forgotten her hair tie.

~ERASERHEAD~

Shota Aizawa waited for the noise to die down a bit before continuing his explanation. He expected the students to complain, but most of them sounded excited. As they filed out to change into their P.E. uniforms, he noticed the girl waiting in the back. As she neared the classroom door, she gave him a look again, her eyes staring into his. He raised an eyebrow.  
"All Might will be the one to do it, not me." He said after a moment.  
The girl made a slight noise of irritation and left.  
Aizawa clicked his tongue.

 _So impatient._

~HIMARI~

 _I can't catch a break today._  
Himari sighed, looking at the row of occupied bathroom stalls. The majority of the girls of class A-1 were changing into their P.E. uniforms in the locker room, chatting animatedly.  
 _Maybe I should change right here. No one's coming in right now._  
She set her bag down just as a stall door opened. A girl with green hair tied in a bow walked out. Himari picked up her bag and slipped inside. Tugging off her clothes and slipping into the blue, red and white uniform, she silently cursed herself over the forgotten hair tie. Someone knocked on the door.  
"Excuse me, ribbit. We're about to head out." A voice called out.  
The girl yanked open the door. The green- haired girl gave her a friendly look.  
 _Asui Tsuyu._  
Himari slipped past her and out the bathroom door. Once everyone was done changing, they joined the boys and Aizawa Sensei outside, where various obstacles and a baseball diamond were set up. The Pro Hero made them do several obstacles, including a 50- meter dash, grip strength test, standing long jump, sustained sideways jump and finally, the pitch test. The girl watched silently as an aggressive blonde boy made a baseball rip through the air in a cloud of dust due to his explosion-type Quirk.  
 _Bakugou Katsuki._ _That was expected. Anyone can see his chaotic energy practically radiating around him. How incredibly irritating._  
What she hadn't expected was the small green-haired boy's pitch. He'd forced an enormous amount of energy through his finger, causing it to break but earning an impressive score.

 _Midoriya Izuku._

She calculated her scores, figuring she was somewhere close to the end, but ahead of Midoriya.  
"Excuse me? Would you like this?"  
She was interrupted by a girl with dark hair offering her a hair tie. Yaoyorozu Momo smiled as she took it and began gathering her hair.  
"I saw you were struggling earlier with your hair loose. Don't worry about returning it. I can always make more."  
"... Thank you." She said finally, feeling a bit less moody.  
"No problem! I'm Yaoyorozu Momo!" She extended her hand towards the girl, who looked at her directly for the first time. Upon seeing her eyes up close, Yaoyorozu's smile faltered.  
Himari hesitated at her reaction, creating an awkward atmosphere until she thankfully was called by Aizawa Sensei.

_ ~SHOUTO~

"Takahashi Himari."  
Shouto looked up as the last student's name was called. Aizawa Sensei held up a baseball as a girl walked up to him. Her curly hair was tied back, and she looked quite short, especially compared to the Hero. He dropped the ball into her palm and she took her spot inside the circle. The boy watched, slightly curious as to what her Quirk could be. She hasn't used it so far, doing a bit over average for a normal person, but without her Quirk she was sure to fail. The girl stretched her arm back and everyone held their breath. She released the ball and it soared into the sky... and came back down with a dull thud. He frowned. Nothing had happened. No burst of wind, fire, light, no nothing.

 _She hasn't used her Quirk. Why? This was her last chance._  
"68 meters." Aizawa Sensei claimed.  
 _That was more than Bakugou could throw without using his Quirk. But it doesn't compare to everyone else._  
"Why'd she do that?"

"Does she even have a Quirk?"

"Is she worse off than Midoriya?"

"Does she want to be expelled?"

The others suddenly stopped talking, pulling Shouto from his thoughts.

The girl had reached the students and was staring at them. Apparently no one had gotten a clear look at her face before since her hair was down; when her eyes met his, he realized why everyone was quiet.

Her eyes held yellow irises that were much larger than most human irises and slitted pupils. This was surprising since the girl had no other feature that was abnormal. Ashido Mina's eyes were stranger, but the former also had pink skin and horns, so they didn't seem very out of place. This girl's eyes, however, looked like they belonged to a predatory animal. There was a cold, frightening look in her eyes as she stared them down, as if she were thinking about attacking them. This unpleasant surprise along with the small, slender frame, pale skin and long hair made her look like something out of a horror film. She only looked at him for a second, but Shouto felt like it was much longer. When she looked away, he felt himself relax; his body had subconsciously become rigid. He frowned.

 _What kind of look is that for someone who wants to be a hero?_  
Aizawa Sensei sighed and walked to the students, jolting them from their stupor.  
"Let's take a look at the scores for today." The others turned to look at the scoreboard, which lit up with everyone's name and rank.  
Shouto saw his own name ranked second, and his mood darkened considerably.  
 _My old man is going to have a field day._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I uploaded the first two chapters consecutively, but depending on the response I'll probably upload a chapter every two weeks!

Disclaimer: I only own my OC and some of the plot

General info: Italicized text is someone's thoughts and the name above each section indicates a change in POV. Bold text is writing.

 **_** **Chapter Two**

~ERASERHEAD~

Aizawa observed tiredly as the students' attention quickly changed to the scoreboard. Some cheered while others groaned.  
"You did well even without using your Quirk!" Tsuyu commented to Himari nervously.  
"Yeah! I thought you were going to be lower than Midoriya!" Kirishima piped up, avoiding the girl's face. She looked at the scores silently.  
Meanwhile, Ochako completely turned away from Himari and was trying to comfort Midoriya, who looked like he was going to cry.  
"She didn't use her Quirk but her physical strength is much higher than mine, and a lot of others did really bad in certain tests while she did good in all of them so she was able to come in at a good spot." He quavered, tears in his eyes and he turned towards the group slightly gathered around Himari.

She hadn't said a word the entire time, and while the others were distracted she abandoned them and headed towards the girls locker rooms.

"No one is getting expelled today. I only said that so you would try your hardest." Aizawa said solemnly.

 _So dramatic._  
Midoriya still looked like he was going to cry, but he was smiling now.  
"Let's head back in." He motioned the students back inside, pausing to stretch his tired limbs.  
 _I need a nap._

~HIMARI~  
 _15th place. After Aoyama Yuga and before Hanta Sero. Could be worse._  
Once the classroom was empty, Himari stood up slowly and walked to the door. As she was about to place a hand on the knob, it suddenly flew open. She jumped back warily but it was All Might, the world's Symbol of Peace, top Pro Hero, and UA teacher who stood in front of her.  
"YOUNG TAKAHASHI! HOW WAS YOUR FIRST DAY AT UA?" He bellowed as he made his way in.  
She looked at him, wincing slightly.

 _Does he have to be so loud?_  
"Fine." She answered shortly.  
"EXCELLENT! AND YOU'VE MADE SOME FRIENDS, I TRUST?" He boomed, almost blinding her with his smile.  
"Yes, loads of them." Himari looked to the side of the hero as Aizawa Sensei slipped in.  
"THAT'S GREAT! YOU'LL BECOME AN AMAZING HERO BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!"

All Might looked at the man next to him.

"NOW, I'VE GOT SOME BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO, SO I'LL LEAVE YOU TO IT! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!" He waved goodbye and left with such force the door nearly flew off its hinges.  
Himari rolled her eyes.  
Aizawa yawned.  
"So, how'd I do?" She asked the hero.  
"Better than I expected, considering you didn't use your Quirk for a Quirk aptitude test." He yawned. "I trust you can find your way home?" His tone revealed he wasn't really asking as he pulled his yellow sleeping bag up.  
"... Midoriya." She said after a moment's pause, staring past the teacher.  
Aizawa stopped tugging his sleeping bag and looked at her.

"What about him?" He asked.  
"He's very… observant." She finished, her brow beginning to furrow.  
"He's harmless. And All Might will take care of it when the moment comes. They're going to find out nonetheless. But if you really believe he'll figure it out soon, why not tell All Might to make the announcement?" With this, the man disappeared into his bag.  
Himari left the classroom, deep in thought. She boarded the bus and found a seat towards the back. Once she was seated, she pulled out a notebook and started writing.

 **Asui, T.- chatty**

 **Bakugou, K.- irritating  
**

 **Midoriya, I.- nosy**

 **Kirishima, E.- idiotic  
**

 **Yaoyorozu, M.- useful**

~SHOUTO~

"EVERYONE, CHANGE INTO YOUR COSTUMES AND PREPARE FOR THE BATTLE TRIAL!" All Might laughed heroically as the class jumped out of their seats to reach their suitcases, which were stacked up on a wall.

Shouto stood up.

 _I will be number one this time._

As he was walking up to the wall where they were mounted, he felt a slight movement as someone easily slipped in front of him.

It was Himari, the girl whose Quirk was unknown. He watched her weave her way through the students quickly. She grabbed a suitcase, but didn't leave the room. Instead, she walked up to Aizawa Sensei's desk and set it down in front of All Might. He looked at her, still smiling. There were less students now, so Shouto moved closer to the front of the classroom while facing the suitcases. _  
_"I thought my design had been lost." He found himself focusing on the conversation when he heard Himari speak for the first time.

 _Her voice is pretty normal. For some reason I expected her to growl or something._  
"Young Takahashi! It was too boring for a Hero, so I made a whole new one for you!" All Might responded. He wasn't yelling anymore, but he was still loud enough for Shouto to hear easily.  
Himari's shoulders stiffened visibly.

 _All Might looked at our designs beforehand?_  
"Don't worry, Aizawa helped me too! It looks great!" He smiled even bigger than before.  
"How did it fit in here?" Her voice became slightly quieter and Shouto strained his ears.

 _Why am I listening? It's none of my business._  
"It's a lot simpler now! Before it would've needed a bigger suitcase!" All Might said proudly.

 _All Might's not being very quiet anyways._  
"I don't mean the costume. I mean the neon sign with your face on it. Or is it all over the costume? Maybe it's on the cape?"

Shouto felt his eyes widen slightly in surprise.  
 _Can she speak to him like that?_  
All Might gave a booming laugh in response, patting the girl on the head.

"I KNEW I SHOULD'VE GOTTEN YOU ONE BUT AIZAWA SAID NOT TO! I KNOW YOU BETTER THAN HE THINKS!"

 _I don't think she meant that._  
"YOUNG TODOROKI, THERE'S ONLY ONE SUITCASE LEFT. I'M SURE IT'S YOURS." All Might's voice alarmed him.  
"Right." Shouto grabbed the remaining suitcase and exited.

~HIMARI~

Himari slammed the stall door shut.  
 _Damn you, All Might._  
Setting the case on top of the toilet seat, she gingerly snapped it open. A white sleeveless top with long black gloves lay on top. She groaned and started changing quickly despite her discomfort.

 _I don't need anyone to come banging on the door again._  
Himari stepped out of the stall and approached the bathroom mirror.  
 _I guess it's not that bad. At least I have pants._  
She wore a long white top that had long black gloves attached to it with wide zig-zag stitches, revealing a bit of her upper arms. The top extended to just below her knees, but had two slits down the front; they went up to her waist, which was secured by a small utility belt. Under the shirt she wore dark grey leggings that disappeared into sturdy black boots.

 _These boots are nice._  
Himari walked around the bathroom, appreciating the slight weight on her feet.  
 _I'd step on All Might if these could actually hurt him._  
She had a collar, which she liked, but there was also a keyhole opening in the front of her top, exposing her chest slightly. She covered it with her hand, frowning.  
 _It's not that big. At least I'm mostly covered._  
The girl left the bathroom, joining the other girls who were already dressed and instantly felt relieved after looking at Yaoyorozu's costume.

~ALL MIGHT~  
"TEAM A! MIDORIYA AND URARAKA!" All Might announced. Uraraka cheered and Midoriya blushed.

 _TIME TO PROVE YOURSELF, YOUNG MIDORIYA!_  
The Pro Hero selected another ball marked with the letter B.  
"TEAM B! TODOROKI AND TAKAHASHI!" He smiled at the young girl.  
 _EXCELLENT WORK! THE COSTUME IS AMAZING!_  
He congratulated himself and announced the rest of the teams.  
"THE FIRST FIGHT IS TEAM A AND TEAM D! TEAM A WILL BE HEROS AND TEAM D WILL BE VILLAINS! TEAM D, TAKE YOUR PLACE INSIDE NEXT TO THE WEAPON! TEAM A, PREPARE TO ENTER THE BUILDING!"  
Bakugou and Iida ran inside while Midoriya and Uraraka started forming a plan.  
"THE REST OF YOU! FOLLOW ME INSIDE TO WATCH THE TRIAL!"  
All Might launched himself towards the building while the students ran to catch up.  
_

~SHOUTO~

"TEAM A HAS WON! NEXT ARE TEAM B, HEROES, VS TEAM I, VILLAINS! GO PREPARE!"

All Might announced. Shouto stood up and walked to the arena, processing the fight between Midoriya and Bakugou.

 _Midoriya lasted longer than I expected._

Himari followed at a close distance, not walking completely next to him. Her face was expressionless.

When they reached the arena entrance, Shouto turned to face her. Her eyes looked past his face, and the boy felt slightly insulted.

 _I'm not afraid of you._

"Todoroki Shouto." He held out his hand.

"Takahashi Himari." She looked into his eyes for a second before releasing his hand. He found it much easier to remain calm that time.

 _She doesn't look as empty and evil as before._

They entered the building quickly and split up to search each floor. Shouto walked as quietly as he could, checking rooms on the second floor.

 _Maybe I should just freeze the whole building. It'll probably be faster._

"They're on the third floor to the left. " Himari's voice suddenly relayed over the transceiver, alarming him.

"I can take it from here, Takahashi. Just get out as soon as possible." He began walking to the stairs, still keeping quiet.

"I'm just past the entrance."

 _That was fast._

Shouto placed his right hand on the wall; ice started spreading up the walls and doors, covering them in a thick layer. Icy spikes jutted out from every surface, turning the building into a dangerous trap. He made his way to the third floor where Ojiro and the core were frozen in place. He warned Ojiro not to move lest he injure himself. The boy touched the core, signaling the team's victory. As he walked back outside, he saw Himari waiting to the side, looking up at the side of the building he'd frozen from the outside as well.

"We won." He confirmed.

 _Take that, old man._

"I suspected as much." She said as they walked back to the classrooms, looking straight ahead.

He looked at the girl; she was walking with her arms crossed, one hand covering the opening of her shirt.

 _I guess that wasn't part of her design. It's not that big though._

He looked away before she caught him staring and cleared his throat.

"How did you get out so quickly?" He asked, curious.

"I jumped out the window." She replied seriously.

 _Did I miss out seeing her Quirk?_

"From the third floor?" Shouto asked, trying not to sound prying.

"Yes."

"... Is your Qui-"

"I didn't use my Quirk." The tone of her voice remained monotone.

 _She doesn't seem like the type to lie._

"My boots are equipped with shock absorption. They work pretty well." She explained.

"So All Might got that part right?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized.

"Yes, he did." She didn't show any immediate sign of anger.

"It was pretty obvious you were eavesdropping." He was surprised that her voice sounded like it was teasing him.

 _Not what I was expecting._

"I apologize. I didn't mean to." He responded automatically.

"Don't say something you don't mean. Why'd you do it?" She returned.

"... I was curious." He admitted after a moment of silence.

"As you heard, All Might told me my design was lost and made an entirely new costume for me without my consent." Himari recalled, interrupting Shouto's thoughts.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked cautiously.

 _She's very unpredictable._

"You answered honestly when you could've lied so I'll be honest with you too. You seem slightly more competent than the others."

 _Slightly?_

"... What did it look like before?" He asked.

"It resembled Aizawa Sensei's attire." Shouto recalled the teacher's plain black clothing.

 _She's similar to Aizawa Sensei. It kind of makes sense that All Might changed it. Still, it's not flashy or anything._

"It'll do for now. I suspect Sensei was able to prevent him from making it worse." They'd finally reached the locker rooms.

Shouto turned to her.

"I am very sorry for eavesdropping on you, Takahashi. I hope we can get along." He apologized again.

 _I need to take her seriously. I have no idea what she's capable of._

"I accept your apology, Todoroki." She said lightly. Shouto felt slightly relieved. He started walking towards the boys locker room.

"Todoroki." He turned back to her quickly. They were now a few feet apart.

Himari stared directly into his eyes, unblinking. Her long hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"If you eavesdrop on me again, I'll kill you." The corners of her mouth curved up for the first time; this somehow made her look even more terrifying than before. She turned and walked into the girls locker room, leaving Shouto tense and with his guard up. His body had prepared for a fight, which didn't happen.

 _Why did she look like she meant it?!_

~HIMARI~

Himari sighed, thankful to be back in her school uniform.

 _Glad that's over._

She took a seat behind an elderly couple on the bus and added another entry to her notebook.

 **Todoroki, s.- nosy pervert**

She recalled the boy's face, a mixture of surprise and fear, and smiled slightly.

 _That should get you off my back, Todoroki. You're less annoying than the others, but you're too nosy for your own good._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello! I'm uploading quite a bit this time; I feel like you guys need to know more before you decide whether you like this story or not. Please let me know what you think! And thank you for the support, Shiranai Atsune and basecannon! I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I only own my OC and some of the plot.

General info: Italicized text is someone's thoughts and the name above each section indicates a change in POV. Bold text is writing.

 **Chapter Three**

~ERASERHEAD~

Aizawa looked at the crowd of reporters attempting to make their way inside U.A. and shook his head.

 _I don't know how you do it, All Might._

As he approached, he saw Himari easily moving through the crowd. Reporters thrust their microphones and recorders into her face, but she kept walking.

"Can you leave my students alone?" He called out. Everyone immediately turned to him. They were all yelling at once, but he was able to pick up on All Might's name repeatedly.

"He's not here right now and you're disrupting our classes. Please leave." He said, entering the school. The gates slammed shut behind him, drowning out the yells of the crowd.

He tsked, annoyed.

"Reporters are the worst." He looked at the girl, surprised. Himari walked directly next to him, something she hadn't done with other students.

"You'll have to get used to them. As a hero, that's all you'll be faced with after saving someone." He responded, even though he agreed.

" _You're_ not in the news and you're a Pro Hero, sir." She pointed out.

 _That would be disrespectful if it weren't true._

"That's because I look like this. I'm not a popular hero."

 _And I plan to keep it this way._

"Who says I want to be popular?" She scoffed, looking up at him.

"I'm going to be like you. I'll buy a sleeping bag and roll around everywhere. I won't even get out. I can just bulldoze the villains away."

"Don't get smart with me, Takahashi." He warned.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I respect you above all the other Heroes. Even All Might!" She said earnestly. "Have you ever seen me talking to anyone else for this long?"

"Why _don't_ you talk to the others? They're your colleagues." He countered.

"They're immature." She answered matter-of-factly.

"Take a seat, Miss Mature."

They'd reached the classroom; Himari went to her desk in the back.

Once everyone had arrived, Aizawa berated Midoriya and Bakugou and instructed the students to choose a class president.

They began yelling all at once.

 _And I'd just gotten them to shut up._

"SENSEI! IS IT ALRIGHT IF WE SETTLE THIS MATTER WITH A VOTE?" Iida demanded above the noise.

"I don't care. Just get it done." He responded, as students began to write down their choices.

 _These kids have too much energy._

~HIMARI~

Himari watched the other students arguing over who to choose and rolled her eyes.

 _We're going to be here all day._

She looked down at her scrap of paper.

 **Iida, T.**

 _He's clearly dying to do it so why not let him? Everyone's just being selfish._

She stood up and deposited her paper into the box on Aizawa Sensei's desk. When she turned she saw about half of the class staring, obviously wondering who she voted for. She restrained herself from saying anything insulting and sat back down.

Among everyone, Midoriya had three votes and Yaoyorozu had two. Iida was crushed but praised Midoriya nonetheless.

Himari raised her eyebrows.

 _Iida only has one vote? He must've voted for Midoriya. If he'd voted for himself, he could've tied for Vice President._

Aizawa Sensei dismissed the class, who headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Himari followed reluctantly.

Yaoyorozu noticed her approaching and smiled.

"Takahashi, do you want to eat with us?" She had an embarrassed look on her face.

Himari nodded.

"I'm sorry about before. It was insensitive of me to react that way." She said sheepishly.

 _I'd forgotten about that, honestly._

"It's fine. And thank you for the hair tie." She replied.

Yaoyorozu smiled.

"You're welcome."

The two girls grabbed their lunch (Yaoyoruzu- chicken curry, Himari- gimbap), and sat down at a table with a girl with a purple bob and headphone jacks growing from her ears.

 _Kyoka Jiro. Thank God it's only us three._

Kyoka waved at the girls.

"You're Takahashi Himari, right?" She asked. Himari nodded.

"I'm Kyoka Jiro."

"Takahashi, if you don't mind me asking, does your Quirk have to be activated by something?" Yaoyorozu asked as they ate.

Himari looked at her.

"The way Aizawa Sensei set up the test, only students with enhancing Quirks they can utilize at will could do well. You'd be unable to show your strength if your Quirk can't be used whenever you want it to." She explained.

 _Woah, that was spot-on._

"O- Of course you don't have to say so if you don't want to!" She stammered, blushing slightly.

"No, you're correct. That's why I couldn't use it during the test."

"That's different. I haven't heard of many Quirks that have to be activated." Jiro responded, setting her chopsticks down.

"You still did pretty well, regardless, so-"

A loud siren pierced the air, startling them.

"SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BREACHED. STUDENTS, PLEASE PROMPTLY EVACUATE." A voice announced over an intercom.

"What's that?" Jiro asked.

"Someone has broken into school grounds. We need to leave." The girls stood up and made their way into the hall.

 _This was a mistake._

A sea of panicked bodies picked them up and separated them. Jiro was forced backwards and back into the cafeteria. Yaoyorozu was pinned to the side of the wall, but Mezo Shoji, a tall boy with six arms helped free her.

Himari was stuck in the middle, shoved and elbowed by an endless barrage of sweaty, loud people. Being on the shorter side, she was eye-level with more limbs than faces. She gritted her teeth.

 _There are too many people. I can't concentrate._

One particularly hysterical boy shoved her from behind, knocking her to her knees. She tried to stand, but the crowd started moving forward again, threatening to crush her underfoot.

Suddenly darkness surrounded her, creating space between her and the others.

"Are you alright?" She looked to her side; a boy with a bird head offered her his hand. His Quirk, Dark Shadow, surrounded them, giving them a bit of breathing space.

 _Tokoyami Fumikage._

She nodded, allowing him to help her up.

 _That was a close one._

"We are engulfed in chaos." He commented solemnly. They were now shoulder to shoulder, unable to see through Dark Shadow but still enveloped in sounds of fear and confusion. The bird-like mass looked her curiously, then turned away quickly.

"Animal," it muttered quietly.

 _That thing can talk?! And what the HELL did it just call me?!_

"I agree. Not exactly how future heroes should be reacting." She responded, pretending not to have heard.

 _These guys aren't so bad. Aizawa Sensei was right._

A sudden familiar shout prompted them to look up, where Tokoyami's Quirk hadn't blocked their vision. Iida was on top of the exit door in a strange position.

"IT'S OK! IT'S JUST REPORTERS! STOP PANICKING!" He yelled.

 _How'd he get there?_

"THERE'S NO NEED TO FOR PANIC! WE ARE STUDENTS AT U.A. SO ACT LIKE IT!"

The students calmed down and eventually Tokoyami and Himari were able to make their way back into class, although being some of the last students in.

"Takahashi! Tokoyami! I'm so glad you're alright!" Yaoyorozu cried as they entered.

"Thanks for your help, Tokoyami." Himari said as they found their seats.

"It was no bother," He returned courteously.

 _So polite!_

Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were standing in front of the class; Midoriya seemed to be sweating profusely.

"I'd like to say something." He said nervously. "I think that Iida would make a better class president than me. He was able to calm everyone down immediately and prevent any disasters, just like a leader should!"

Iida looked surprised.

"You voted for me, Midoriya?" He asked.

Midoriya blushed.

"I voted for myself, actually."

"You didn't vote for yourself, Iida?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"No, I voted for Midoriya!" He answered, indignant.

"Then who did?"

~SHOUTO~

"I did." A voice responded clearly.

Shouto was surprised he knew who it belonged to without seeing: Himari.

Everyone turned to her silently, bursting with curiosity.

"It seemed clear to me that Iida would be the best candidate for class President. He is authoritative and follows directions perfectly, while encouraging others to do so without fail. I have no doubt he's read the school's handbook cover to cover and would know exactly what to do in various emergencies. He also remained level- headed in a situation where not many people were. While Midoriya is brave and has the right attitude to be a hero, he's quite careless at conserving his own body, and a leader needs to actually be capable of helping others without becoming a burden. He also gets nervous in front of others easily. His leadership skills, while good, require an actual incident to spur him into action and would be incapable of attempting to enforce rules on a daily basis, especially around Bakugou." She delivered in the deadpan voice he'd heard before.

 _She's right._

An awkward silence hung in the air. Everyone seemed to be in shock that she'd spoken as well as processing the information she'd relayed.

Tsuyu finally broke the silence. "I agree with Takahashi. Iida should be made class President."

"Yeah, Iida did a great job in the cafeteria!" Kirishima piped up. The rest of the class murmured in agreement.

Iida stood up.

"Since the class has requested it, I will proudly take on this role! I won't let you down!" He vowed, then turned to Himari.

"Thank you for believing in me, Takahashi!"

Shouto looked at her; her face was still unreadable, but she nodded at Iida. He found himself scoffing slightly at her attempt at encouragement.

 _How can she threaten to kill someone one day and try to make friends the next?_

He recalled seeing her earlier in the day.

 _She sat with Yaoyorozu and Kyoka at lunch and walked in with Tokoyami so she's interacting with others. Seriously unpredictable._

"Alright, can we move on now? This is taking forever." Aizawa Sensei emerged from his sleeping bag, startling Midoriya immensely. He and Yaoyorozu went back to their seats and the hero continued lecturing.

Shouto watched as Himari took careful notes, an idea starting to form in his mind.

 _I need to talk to Yaoyorozu._


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello! I'm uploading quite a bit this time; I feel like you guys need to know more before you decide whether you like this story or not. Please let me know what you think! And thank you for the support, Shiranai Atsune and basecannon! I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I only own my OC and some of the plot.

General info: Italicized text is someone's thoughts and the name above each section indicates a change in POV. Bold text is writing.

 **Chapter Four**

~ERASERHEAD~

"Today you will embark on a Rescue Trial, which will be supervised by me and two other Pro Heroes. You will train in a facility that was created for U.A. students and has many types of disaster areas. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want to wear your costumes; we will travel there by bus. Now, go prepare yourselves."

He checked the time while the students rushed to grab their belongings and head outside.

 _Where is All Might? He's usually not late._

Once everyone was boarded, Aizawa climbed onto the bus, anticipating a nap. He approached the first row of seats and frowned. Himari was sitting in one of them; she looked up and patted the seat next to her.

 _What is with this girl?_

"Takahashi, find another seat."

The girl remained where she was.

"Why can't I sit next to you, Sensei?"

Aizawa sighed.

"I want you to sit next to someone your own age and talk to them. And I need both of these seats to sleep comfortably."

"But I talked so much yesterday! I even sat with people during lunch! And I've seen you fall asleep standing up." She responded.

"Takahashi." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, I'll go sit next to Tokoyami." She stood and headed towards the back of the bus.

 _Yes, go sit next to the quietest person in class._

He sat down, yawning.

 _This job is exhausting._

~HIMARI~

"Can I sit here?" Himari asked the boy. He nodded and she slipped into the seat next to him. Tokoyami turned his attention to the window as she reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook. Opening it, she quickly scribbled.

Aizawa, S.- respected pro hero sad lonely manchild

She tapped the pen against her bottom lip, thinking.

 _Babies get wrapped up in blankets, kinda like sleeping bags. And they sleep a lot. They don't have facial hair tho-_

"Don't be discouraged. I scare people sometimes too." A voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked at Tokoyami, surprised.

"Well, Dark Shadow does, and he's a part of me. Some think that I'm evil at times." He continued somberly.

"Does that matter to you?" She asked, interest piqued.

The boy's red eyes widened.

"Why shouldn't it? I want to be a hero who saves people, not intimidates them. Does it not matter to you? I don't mean to offend but I'm sure you noticed the majority of the students' reactions to you."

"Yeah, I noticed but it doesn't really matter to me how they react. If a person needs saving, I'm not going to wait for them to warm up to me; they can think what they want after they're out of harm's way."

 _Not to mention the fact that I wanted to scare them so I'd be left alone._

He nodded pensively.

"And besides," Himari continued, "I'm not very fond of people so my appearance really comes in handy when I want to avoid conversation. I noticed your lack of interaction with others so I'm sure you agree." She smirked slightly.

"Takahashi, I was hoping to provide you some wisdom but I find myself learning from you instead." Tokoyami said seriously.

 _If only everyone was as polite as you!_

"Happy to help."

They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the trip, as the rest of the students chatted loudly. Dark Shadow emerged once, chirped "Animal!" at her in a cheerful tone and returned to his master's body.

Himari eventually pulled out her phone and earphones, pressing 'play' on a loud rock song, brows furrowed in annoyance. Tokoyami was much better at ignoring the others.

"Tokoyami, you haven't lost out on a teaching opportunity. Would you like to impose some wisdom on a bus-load of toddlers?"

~SHOUTO~

Shouto stepped off the bus, slightly annoyed.

 _I didn't get a chance to speak with Yaoyorozu-san over the noise._

He followed the group of students, noting that Himari was standing next to Tokoyami instead of to the side.

 _Are you two best friends now?_

As they took in the enormous space and various disaster simulations, the hero 13 lectured them on how to use their Quirks to save others instead of harming them.

Aizawa Sensei was about to let them loose when he turned towards the middle of the arena, his back to them.

Shouto followed his gaze. A small, black cloud hung in the air. It grew, and a hand reached out from within.

"Everyone, stay back. 13, protect them! Kaminari, try to contact the school!" He yelled as the black mass spread and more people emerged and started towards them.

"What's happening? Is this part of the practice?" Someone asked.

"NO! THOSE ARE VILLAINS!" He responded.

The black mass shrunk into a tall cloud, with piercing eyes. A metal neck brace was suspended below it's eyes. It approached the entrance where the students stood in shock.

"Eraserhead and Number 13," a deep voice came from the swirling mass. "All Might was supposed to be here as well…"

"So yesterday's drill was you." Aizawa Sensei growled.

A man whose face, neck and limbs were gripped by metal hands walked next to the mass.

"We came all this way, and I brought so many others and he's not here?" His voice sounded maniacal. "Do you think he'll come if we kill the children?"

"Why would a group of villains come into an area surrounded by heroes?" A voice asked.

"What about the intruder alerts?" Yaoyorozu asked, looking panicked.

"Is this the only part of the school they've entered?" Shouto asked, watching the villains spread out among the arena.

"They've attacked an area that's separate from the school, when a class is supposed to be taking place. It may not seem like it, but they're here for a specific reason." Aizawa concluded.

"Number 13! Evacuate and try contacting the school! There's a possibility someone's Quirk will interfere with the signal! Kaminari, try getting your Quirk to reach the school!" He instructed.

"You can't take them all alone!" Midoriya interjected. "You usually capture villains after erasing their Quirks!"

"I've got more than one trick up my sleeve!" Aizawa claimed and flew down the stairs to meet the predators. He quickly took down the first three, who were clearly not expecting him.

"Let's go, kids!" Number 13 demanded as the mass suddenly grew again, blocking their path.

"I can't let you leave." The voice from within responded. "We are the Villain Alliance and we decided to infiltrate this academy to fight with All Might. We wanted the opportunity to eliminate him, you know. Were some changes made to today's schedule? Either way, this is my job." The darkness grew, threatening to engulf them.

Suddenly, Kirishima and Bakugou flew up towards the smoke, striking something solid.

"Did ya think we were just going to let you attack us?" Kirishima grinned.

"Get back, it's no use!" 13 yelled.

"That was quite dangerous for you. Although you're children, you are very important to the hero world. Thus, you will be scattered." The mass enveloped the group.

"All of you will suffer and die." His words surrounded Shouto and the others as he felt himself flying into the air in total darkness.

~ERASERHEAD~

"23 seconds."

Aizawa heard the man with several hands attached to him mutter as he ran towards him. He sent his capturing weapon flying towards him but the man caught it, still muttering.

"You must be the leader." He commented as they fought. Aizawa dashed towards him and swiftly elbowed him, sending him backwards. The man steadied himself.

"It's difficult to tell when you're moving around, but every now and then your hair gets in your eyes." He took hold of Aizawa's elbow.

"Each time you finish a big move. Your time is getting shorter and shorter."

Where the man was holding him, his sleeve unraveled and disappeared. He felt his skin start to crack and fall off his arm like old brick, exposing the muscle underneath. He leaped away from him.

 _My skin was crumbling!_

Two more villains rushed him, and he struggled to throw them off.

"You're not meant for this type of fight, yet you came anyways. Were you hoping to bring relief to the children? How nice of you. And just so you know," The villain added as Aizawa felt a presence behind him and turned quickly.

"I'm not the leader here."

_ ~HIMARI~

 _There you are!_

Himari ran as fast as she could across the plaza, forcing her mind to calm down. An enormous black mutant sat on top of Aizawa Sensei. She had almost reached him when she heard a yell and felt a gust of wind beside her. She turned and saw Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta in the pool nearby. The man with the blue hair and hands had been attacked by Midoriya but the bird-mutant had taken the hit.

 _First things first._

She crouched next to Aizawa Sensei, quickly taking in his injuries.

 _I can take care of the internal damage first._

She leaned over and was going to turn the man when she felt a heavy hand grip her shoulder. She looked up into the eyes of the mutant, who screeched loudly.

 _Or not._

"Leave her, Nomu." She heard a voice say, and the hand disappeared. The blue-haired man walked over to Himari, who took the chance the to lift her teacher and turn him over.

 _I better hurry up._

Suddenly the arena doors blew open and All Might entered. Both villains turned their attention towards him as he blasted his way in. The Symbol of Peace took down the thugs in the front easily. He approached Himari and Aizawa Sensei, looking down at the heavily injured man.

"Take care of him, young Takahashi." He said before turning to the villains.

She placed her hands over the teacher's torso, keeping calm.

 _These bastards messed him up more than I thought._

Aizawa stirred slightly.

She felt another gust of wind and realized All Might had moved Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta away from danger, but she and Aizawa were still in place. Looking up, she noticed the mutant had barred All Might from reaching them.

"You stay here. I want to have a chat. It'll have to be after I defeat your precious hero." The villain addressed Himari.

 _I can't move anyways, but I can help Aizawa Sensei now._

The hero looked at the girl. She nodded slightly.

"Don't worry about me. Just watch your back with this one!" She said.

All Might threw a powerful punch at Nomu, who was unaffected. The two had moved away from Himari, who focused once more on the unconscious man. As he healed, she felt as if a giant hand was squeezing her chest. Her ribs cracked and muscles tore. She coughed wetly, wiping away blood with the back of her hand. The bones in her left arm shattered, rendering it useless.

 _This should be enough to make him stable._

She lowered her good hand, taking short, shuddering breaths.

 _This isn't too bad._

After a moment, she slowly felt the pain start to ebb away, bones moving back into place and muscle start to come together again.

Footsteps sounded close by and she looked up to see Midoriya running towards All Might. The hero and two villains were several feet away from her now. Just before the boy reached him, Bakugou blasted Kurogiri, the mass that had caused Nomu and All Might to warp through the floor. Both of them were unable to move in that state.

"Need a hand?"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry this is a bit late but I'm uploading two chapters again! Thanks for the support and please let me know what you think of this story! I appreciate any feedback:)

Disclaimer: I only own my OC and some of the plot.

General info: Italicized text is someone's thoughts and the name above each section indicates a change in POV. Bold text is writing.

 **Chapter Five**

~SHOUTO~

Shouto looked at the girl sitting on the floor next to Aizawa Sensei. His head and upper body were propped up slightly in her lap. Her hands were covered in blood but otherwise looked uninjured.

 _That must be from Aizawa Sensei._

She nodded and he leaned down to pick up his teacher. With his right hand he created a makeshift gurney out of ice and propelled it several feet away, where Asui and the others reached him. He faced Himari and offered his hand but she stood up by herself, then stumbled slightly. He rushed forward.

"I'm fine!" She responded harshly, holding one arm.

 _So she is hurt?_

"Go Help All Might." She said, dropping her arm and opening and closing her hands into fists.

"Stay back," He warned, then ran towards the fight. Once he was close enough, he froze half of Nomu's body, being careful not to harm the Symbol of Peace. All Might freed himself from the villain's grip.

Bakugou subdued Kurogiri by holding onto his metal armor.

"Nomu, get rid of the brat. We need Kurogiri."

Nomu began to move, although his frozen limbs broke off. Once he was standing again, his arm and leg regenerated.

 _What is that thing?!_

"Wait." A voice behind Shouto said.

Himari walked up to the man.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Bakugou yelled, still holding onto the armor.

"You wanted to talk to me, right? I'm here. Leave them alone."

He turned towards her.

"So it _is_ you. I've been wanting to meet you for a while." He laughed.

"You know, I'm a fan of your father's work. He did great things when he was in power. It's a shame he was blown to bits all those years ago."

 _What is going on?_

"But why are you here? You should be on my side. With the power he had, I'm sure you will be an excellent addition to our team." He added.

Nomu hadn't moved.

"Fuck off. I don't need anyone else telling what to do." She answered calmly.

"Maybe this will change your mind. Nomu." The villain responded.

The giant mutant flew towards Bakugou. A huge burst of wind almost knocked Shouto and the others over; All Might had blocked the attack.

"Anything to save someone in need." The blue-haired man commented, scratching his neck where the hand wasn't touching.

"Even you put yourself in danger to save these brats! Look at how close you are to me!" He laughed at Himari, who showed no sign of having heard.

 _He hasn't done anything yet. Why?!_

"Don't worry, I won't touch you. I want you as an ally." He continued talking, but Shouto couldn't hear any further.

 _How does a villain know her? Who is she?!_

"We can take on the mist guy! We know his weakness!" Midoriya interrupted. He looked at the others.

"Are you not hearing this?" Shouto asked.

 _Besides, these people are much more dangerous than what we've faced before._

"NO! STAY BACK AND WATCH A PRO HERO IN ACTION!"

All Might bellowed and slammed into the mutant. Their blows were so powerful, it took all of the boy's strength to keep from being blown away.

 _They're matched in strength! How is that possible?!_

The Symbol of Peace refused to give up, landing more blows than he'd ever done before.

 _He's getting stronger somehow._

The mutant was beginning to take some damage under his opponent's fists. With a yell, All Might punched him with more power than Shouto thought possible. The villain tore through the air with a force that knocked over everyone in the vicinity. He crashed right through the USJ's ceiling, sending dust and debri everywhere.

"No! That's not right!" The man yelled, scratching his neck furiously. "You're not weak at all! You destroyed my Nomu!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO KILL ME! I'M RIGHT HERE!" All Might called out amongst a cloud of smoke, but the villain continued muttering to himself.

 _Smoke? All Might is producing smoke somehow?_

Shouto saw Himari quickly distance herself from the man but he suddenly lunged forward, catching her arm. Her glove disintegrated where his skin touched it, but she didn't yell out in pain. The man suddenly made a pained noise and flew backwards. He glared at the girl who'd successfully moved further away from him while not coming near the boys either.

"First Nomu and now this!" He started laughing maniacally. "So this is what it feels like. I had no idea you were so powerful!"

"Focus, Tomura Shigaraki. Our opponent is still here, and he was hurt by Nomu. We can take him down." Kurogiri instructed. Shigaraki stopped laughing.

"You're right. I can deal with her later."

Shouto and Bakugou turned towards Himari but Midoriya stared at All Might, looking like he wanted to approach him.

"Midoriya, stay back. They're on another level. We shouldn't get in the way and burden All Might." He warned.

He heard the villains say something as they charged towards All Might. Suddenly Midoriya blasted himself towards them. Shigaraki thrust out a hand as they flew in the air towards each other, reaching for the boy's face. A gunshot rang throughout the arena. Shouto turned towards the entrance.

 _They're here._

Pro heroes including Snipe, Midnight, Ectoplasm, and Present Mic entered, quickly taking down countless villains.

Kurogiri and Tomura stopped.

"Our chance was lost Kurogiri, We- uggh." The villain was met with a volley of bullets. A swirling mass appeared before him, sucking him in. Number 13 aimed his hand at Shigaraki, trapping him.

"This isn't the last you'll see of me. Especially you." Shigaraki hissed the last part at the girl as he and Kurogiri vanished into thin air.

Himari approached Midoriya, who lay on the floor, both legs broken after his attack.

"Get away from me!" He yelled, and she stopped. "I know you are! That villain was talking about Bishamon! You must be his daughter!"

 _Bishamon? The God of war?_

"Is that true, Yellow Eyes?! You're dad was fucking Bishamon?!" Bakugou demanded, stepping towards her. "Why are you here?! To spy on us? Did you tell those villains where All Might would be?!" He shot towards her.

Shouto wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

 _I think she's hurt already, and Bakugou could seriously hurt her. But is that a bad thing? Who is Bishamon?_

Yelling furiously, Bakugou aimed an explosion directly at Himari, who hadn't moved. The second he released it, he was thrown backwards. He landed on his feet and everyone looked at the girl.

 _Nothing happened to her?!_

The serious look had returned to Himari's face, and she kept her eyes trained on Bakugou, who ran forward again. He tried to blast her again and skidded backwards on his feet. He propelled himself forward but she ran at him, taking him by surprise. When he tried to slow down he stumbled, and Himari stepped forward and drove her fist into his abdomen, knocking him onto the ground.

 _What is her Quirk?! How did she not get hurt?_

Not being able to cause her visible damage only made him angrier, and Bakugou's attacks grew more intense. After a particularly loud explosion, both were concealed by a huge cloud of dust. A sudden cry was heard and as the dust cleared, Bakugou was on one knee, his face a mix of pain and anger. His right arm was bent at an odd angle. The girl's gloves were in tatters, showing uninjurned arms.

 _She broke his arm! How has she not gotten hurt?_

He stood up, and aimed at her with his other arm when a voice interrupted them.

"That's enough, young man." Pro Hero Cementoss suddenly stood between them.

"SHE'S A FUCKING VILLAIN! MOVE!" Bakugou argued, gripping his hurt arm.

"Do you honestly think a Pro Hero can't tell the difference between a hero and a villain?" He responded.

Bakugou opened his mouth and closed it again angrily.

"From what I can tell, All Might hasn't spoken with you yet." He turned toward the girl.

"Are you alright?" He asked, and she nodded in response.

"You two, go get treated by Recovery Girl. Takahashi, stay here. You can head to the gate once you're healed." He ordered.

 _What just happened here?!_

~ERASERHEAD~

 _I can't see._

Aizawa lifted his arm up to his face and realized it was covered by bandages.

 _Weren't my arms broken?_

He tried moving the other one but stopped at the pain.

"Sorry I couldn't do both in one go. I was a bit panicked." A voice to his right said.

He turned his head slightly, and placed on arm on his abdomen, feeling no bandages.

 _You…_

"Takahashi…"

"Yes, Sensei? Do you need anything?"

"You… idiot." He sighed.

"I don't think that's the word you're searching for." The girl asked, sounding confused.

"I'm not in pain here." He patted his chest.

"... Did you want to be?"

"Do you know how reckless that was? You said the other students are immature yet you acted just like them." He growled.

"I knew you were going to get mad, but it wasn't _that_ careless. Iida had already escaped the arena and we were far from the line of fire. I wasn't being directly attacked and I healed pretty quickly. Besides, you were really hurt and I wasn't about to let you stay like that when I could help. I'm not stupid. That's why I didn't heal you completely. I can do it now, though." Aizawa heard her stand up.

"No!" He tried to inch away but couldn't really see and was still in pain.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Aizawa?" He heard another voice.

 _When did a nurse get in here?_

Himari laughed softly.

"I told Aizawa Sensei he doesn't have a catheter, so he has to get up if he wants to use the restroom. He thinks I'm lying. Almost peed himself."

 _You little brat!_

"Do you need to use the restroom, Mr. Aizawa? I can help you up." The nurse asked. He could tell she was next to Himari.

"No, I'm fine." He grunted.

"He needs to take these now and these in case he's in any pain." She was no longer addressing him.

"Thank you, I'll take care of it." He heard Himari answer.

"And if he does need to go to the restroom-"

"I can help him."

Aizawa waited for the nurse to leave before speaking again.

"You are NOT taking me to the restroom."

"Why not? I'm not going in with you, I'm just helping you walk there."

He sensed movement and suddenly a hand tapped his shoulder.

"Sit up a bit, you have to take these."

He propped himself up using his good arm. The girl waited for him to loosen the bandages around his mouth before handing him two pills. He popped them into his mouth.

"Here."

A straw touched his mouth and he sipped water from a cup she held out.

When he was done she moved the cup away, but he could still feel her leaning over him. Suddenly she placed a hand on his face. He tried to push her away but she held down his arm which still felt sore.

 _This girl seriously refuses to follow directions._

"Don't move or I'll re-break your arm. Just ask Bakugou." She instructed, and he felt the bones under his face fuse together again. It was quite painful, so he stayed quiet until she moved her hand away and let his arm go.

"There. It's not totally healed but that should help. Don't start yelling again." She said, leaning away.

 _Thank you, brat._

"... You broke Bakugou's arm?" He muttered a moment later, surprised at her words.

He heard the girl curse to herself.

"Technically, his attacks broke his arm," She said finally.

 _Doesn't your face hurt?_

"You two fought each other?"

 _How long was I out for?_

"... They found out." She said quietly.

 _I knew All Might should've told everyone from the start._

She relayed everything that happened after he'd been unconscious, including All Might's injuries.

"Is All Might ok now?" He asked, thinking of the Hero's weakened condition.

"Yeah, he was treated by Recovery Girl."

"Are you ok? You took on Bakugou when you'd just fixed me."

"I told you I could handle it. I've dealt with worse." She was silent for a moment.

"You know, I enjoyed beating Bakugou. That kid can get really cocky."

She sounded joyful; Aizawa scoffed.

 _He's not the only one._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter is a bit short, but the next bit of writing fits into the next chapter better than being attached to this one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own my OC and some of the plot.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter Six**

~SHOUTO~

"You two better keep your mouths shut about Yellow Eyes. Especially you, dumbass Deku!" Bakugou growled as they made their way outside where the rest of the class was waiting; He and Midoriya had already been healed by Recovery Girl.

 _Cementoss already warned us, so why are you repeating it?_

"Kacchan, -"

"Shut the hell up! I don't want anyone else to beat her before I do." He yelled, furious.

 _So that's why._

The three boys were the last to board the bus; everyone but Aizawa Sensei and Himari was there. Midoriya sat towards the back, and Shouto sat next to him. The green haired boy looked at him in surprise.

"Midoriya, what do you know about Bishamon?" He asked quietly.

Midoriya looked at the back of Bakugou's head a few seats away before speaking in a low tone. "Well, he was a really infamous villain back when we were younger. He had a huge amount of power over other bad guys, who did all kinds of crimes for him. Some smaller cities in Japan were completely overrun with bad people. And whenever two people were caught, four more replaced them. People from the smaller cities began to suspect the leader was someone from a larger city who dumped their criminals on them and vice versa. About half of the country fought with each other over his identity, thus earning the name of the God of war. The lower-level thugs were usually caught, but they were really loyal to him and never revealed his whereabouts. The police suspected very few people knew who he really was. The only thing they knew about him was what his eyes looked like. His followers would tag buildings with a pair of yellow eyes, and the saying 'He is watching you.'"

"You said hardly anyone knew what he looked like. Was he caught?" Shouto asked thinking of his younger years when he'd watch the news with his mother.

 _I don't remember seeing anything about this on the news._

"A man who claimed to be Bishamon's closest companion gave away his location in exchange for being pardoned of his crimes and promised protection. He was caught before but he escaped. The news never said specifically what his Quirk was, so a lot of baseless rumors about that spread." Midoriya said. "When that happened, a lot of people didn't believe the police or Pro Heroes were doing their jobs and the fighting amongst cities got worse. Eventually, A bunch of heroes, including All Might, ambushed him. No one is really sure how he died. Some people say he was killed by the heroes, and some say he killed himself before they could reach him. The only definite detail was that he building he was in exploded. It was left in pieces and no one ever tried to clear it out of fear that he haunted it."

"Was it all over the news? Where is the building? He sounds like a really big deal yet I don't remember ever seeing him on TV."

Midoriya thought for a moment. "Well, the first time he escaped from the good guys really negatively impacted the citizens all over Japan. When it actually happened, people claimed the police was lying and a few news stations refused to cover the news at all. The abandoned building is somewhere in Akita, I don't remember where exactly. His death wasn't taken very seriously, but after that happened, the amount of villains really went down everywhere. All Might also had to do with that."

"A lot of people have eyes like that. They usually have other distinguishing features, but anything's possible. So why did you think Himari was related to him? Does it fit, time-wise? How long ago did that happen? And the news never mentioned anything about Bishamon having a daughter."

"Honestly, I hadn't suspected her at first but I first saw her in the classroom. Which means that she got in through recommendations, like you. So no one had seen her Quirk at all. And after the Aptitude test, I thought her eyes looked kind of familiar."

Shouto recalled the girl's chilling expression that day.

"That wasn't really enough to peg her as his daughter, but I noticed she's not very friendly with anyone. If she were his daughter, being around the kids of Pro Heroes would probably make her uncomfortable. This happened about seven years ago, so she would've been around 8 years old. And that guy, Tomura, was saying he was a fan of her father's, and when I said it, she didn't deny it."

"Cementoss didn't either, which means that the teachers at U.A. know that too." Shouto noted. "How did they even find out about her?"

"Not a lot is known about Bishamon's personal life. It would be bad for him if people knew he had a family. Other villains who wanted to take him down could've used her as bait. And he probably had her close by so he could protect her. Someone probably found her in the building during the fight." Midoriya stared at his lap, shaking slightly.

Shouto looked at the other students, who were quieter than before. He heard Yaoyorozu express concern for Himari.

 _If only you knew._

"She didn't get hurt at all by that Tomura guy or Kacchan's attacks. She's pretty powerful to be able to block both of them completely. That villain's Quirk destroys people, yet she wasn't affected from what I could tell. Not to mention breaking Kacchan's arm." Midoriya sounded impressed and terrified.

"She was injured before fighting with either of them. When she was with Aizawa Sensei." Shouto suddenly recalled.

"Really? It didn't look like she was... How could they allow someone like that in U.A.?" Midoriya clenched his hands into fists.

"I can see why she was brought here. Japan's Pro Heroes could keep an eye on her while putting her on the straight and narrow path. Eight is young enough to change her ideals, if she agreed with what her father was doing. And she's strong, so she probably was trained by the heroes since then, which is probably why she was able to fend them both off. They all seem to be aware of her power, so they can control her if necessary. She could also provide insight as to what a villains mindset is like." Shouto said finally. "The only thing we can do now is wait for All Might's announcement tomorrow."

Midoriya remained silent, lost in thought.

Shouto rested his head against the back of the seat, feeling a headache coming on.

 _What is it like to have a villain for a father?_

~HIMARI~

"Are you ready to go, Himari-chan?"

The girl looked up from her book at Midnight, a pro Heroine. She stood up and glanced at Aizawa Sensei. She could tell he was sleeping even though his face was covered; his chest rose and fell evenly with each breath.

"Yes."

The ride home was quiet. Midnight and Himari reached the apartment and were in the elevator when the woman suddenly turned to face her.

"You did well today. Don't let what that villain said shake you."

"I know, O-nee-san." The elevator dinged, signaling the two had reached their floor. Both stepped out, and Himari started down the hall to her home.

"Himari-chan?" The girl turned to the woman once more, slightly annoyed.

"You are so attentive of Aizawa Sensei. It's absolutely _adorable_!" Midnight's cheeks were pink as she gave Himari a sultry look.

The girl made a disgusted face.

 _You freak._

"Good night, O-nee-san." She opened the door to her apartment before the heroine could continue.

"By the way, a package came for you. It's from All Might." She heard before closing the door. Kicking off her shoes, she yawned and walked into her room. She set down her bag and empty suitcase, removing her uniform.

 _I wonder how long it'll take to fix my costume. I'm kind of like it now._

She stepped into the shower, scrubbing her arm furiously where the villain had grabbed her.

 _That was really close._

Once she was out, Himari tugged a black shirt over her head and pajama pants and walked into her kitchen, damp hair held by a towel. She opened the fridge and found two unfamiliar containers next to the rice she didn't remember putting away. She gingerly pulled them out; one had a note attached to its lid.

 **Black bean sauce for jajangmyeon. No pork in it since I know you'll take it out. Noodles are in the freezer. Don't leave the rice in the rice cooker! And don't eat all the radish at once!**

 **P.S. Your bras are so cute and little! I remember when I was that small!**

 **\- Nemuri .**

 _If you were a man this would be considered much more inappropriate, O-nee-san._

Himari slid the container back into the fridge and took the second one into her room. She sat on the floor and unscrewed the lid, revealing pickled Korean radish. The girl popped a piece into her mouth with a toothpick, mulling over the day's events.

 _I knew Midoriya was going to figure it out. He's not as stupid as he looks. Stupid-ass Bakugou. You should try that again, I barely got to hit you today._

She rubbed her arm, recalling the feeling of her skin wanting to lift away like old paint. Even though she'd transferred the damage, the feeling remained in her memory.

 _Motherfucker. If he'd held on longer he probably would've gotten me._

 _And Midoriya, you stupid idiot! If Snipe hadn't shot that bastard, you'd be dead! You're the reckless one, not me._

Something on top of her desk caught her eye. She stood, setting the jar on it's wooden surface. Next to it was a large, flat cardboard box with her name and address printed neatly on an All Might delivery sticker. She pulled a knife out of her desk drawer and opened the box to find six thin canvases. As the girl pulled one out, a slip of paper floated to the floor. Himari picked it up.

 **Here is your poster, as promised! There wasn't a big enough size in stock, so I made a big one with six! It's like a puzzle!**

 **\- ALL MIGHT**

She looked at the board in her hand and laughed. Half of All Might's smile and chin were printed on it. Himari pulled out the boards and spent a few minutes assembling them into different combinations, finally hanging them when she found the perfect one, which was the pro Hero's forehead on top and mouth directly under. She put away the other two boards and chuckled to herself as she brushed her hair.

 _He'll be alright... right?_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't posted sooner! I totally lost track of time. Hopefully these next two chapters make up for it. Thank you as always for the support!

Disclaimer: I own my OC and some of the plot.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 7**

~ERASERHEAD~

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN! CLASS IS ABOUT TO START!" Aizawa heard Iida bellowing as he made his way inside the classroom.

"Morning." He said nonchalantly.

"YOU'RE BACK SO SOON, SENSEI?!" The class exclaimed in response.

"I'm much better." He assured them.

 _Thanks to a mouthy brat with no respect for authority._

"Are you sure?" Ochako asked, looking at his bandaged face and arm.

"You all have something much bigger to worry about right now."

Several students looked alarmed.

"Are there more villains?!" someone asked.

"No. The U.A. sports festival is approaching." He deadpanned.

"THAT'S A SUPER NORMAL SCHOOL THING!" Class 1-A replied. The students began talking excitedly.

"But before that, we need to discuss something." Aizawa interrupted.

"A few of you witnessed something yesterday, made quick judgements without thinking rationally and one of you attacked a fellow student." The students fell silent, most of them wearing confused expressions.

"Sensei-" both Bakugou and Midoriya spoke at once, then looked at each other.

"Let me talk, Deku!" The blonde yelled.

"Yellow Eyes had-"

"No reason to engage in a fight with another student." Everyone turned to the front of the class, where All Might was suddenly standing.

"Takahashi Himari is _not_ a bad person, no matter who her father was."

 _He looks serious for once._

The other students looked even more confused.

"Class, during the attack by the League of Villains, the leader recognized Young Takahashi as the daughter of the villain Bishamon, which she is."

All eyes suddenly flew towards the back, where Himari was sitting. She looked expressionless, but her hands were clenched into fists.

Some students started whispering.

"All Might, how could you bring her here?!" Midoriya suddenly shouted, looking angry and sad at the same time.

"It was you, wasn't it? How could you do-"

"Midoriya, you don't know what you're talking about so I suggest you shut your mouth and listen." Aizawa interrupted.

"Yes, I, along with several other pros who work here defeated Bishamon and found her in the building several years ago. We gave her a home and helped her recover from living with him for so long. She's here because she is meant to be a hero."

Bakugou looked like he was about to talk again.

"Young Bakugou and Young Midoriya, you should be ashamed of yourselves. How could you not trust my judgement? Do you honestly think I don't know any better? She saved you from being attacked, Bakugou, and this is how you repay her? You two need to apologize to Young Takahashi."

"No."

The hero was surprised to hear that come from Himari, not the boys. The girl stood up and several people grew tense.

"I don't want you to apologize because you don't mean it and I don't care about your feelings towards me. Your reactions are exactly what I expected, so I'm not surprised. I didn't come here to make friends or be likeable. I came here for one purpose only, the same reason some of you are here, and no one is going to stop me from achieving it. The least you can do is keep quiet about me and there will be no reason to interact at all. If you still intend on fighting I will have no choice but to beat you into accepting the truth." Himari sat down again.

 _I don't think it works that way._

"She is right about some of those things. I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I need all of you to keep this a secret from everyone, including your parents. The name Bishamon still causes panic and I wouldn't want your families to think U.A. isn't safe. She is your classmate, and you need to protect her, especially since a dangerous person has targeted her. And there is no reason you all shouldn't get along! You all want to become heroes so you should work together!"

Some people looked sympathetic, and others shocked, but all of them were looking at the girl with uncertainty in their eyes. After All Might left, the tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Aizawa looked at Himari; she was staring out the window, an unattached expression on her face, one finger wrapping carelessly around a curl. He sighed inwardly.

"It's now time for lunch. You are dismissed."

Only Mineta leapt out of his seat, shooting fearful looks towards the back of the classroom.

"I'm sure you all know better than to speak about what was said earlier and disobey All Might and every member of this school's faculty's orders. When you come back, we will discuss the upcoming sports festival."

The rest of the students slowly stood up and made their way out of the room. Himari remained in her seat, even after the room had cleared.

"Are you going to stay in here?" He asked, tugging his sleeping bag around his shoulders.

 _Please leave._

She looked at him, thoughtful.

"I don't want people to think I'm staying in here because I'm afraid of them."

"I highly doubt anyone thinks that." Aizawa scoffed.

"But on the other hand, I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to deal with Bakugou again."

"Good point. He'll probably want to fight you regardless." He replied.

" _But_ I wouldn't mind kicking his ass again, especially in front of many more people. It'll help his ego."

She smiled for the first time that day.

"Language, Takahashi, but yes. Run along, go teach him a lesson." He instructed.

The girl stood up and walked towards the door. Just before she reached it, she turned around again.

"Then again, beating up a fellow classmate would probably soil my image further than it already is."

The man growled. "You know you don't care about that, brat! Stop messing around and decide!"

She laughed. "After all I did for you, this is how you repay me?" Himari teased and opened the door.

"When you never see me again, you'll be sorry for kicking out a defenseless girl into a den of wolves." The door slid shut behind her.

Aizawa sighed.

 _You're not the one I'm worried about._

~SHOUTO~

Shouto looked to his left; the table next him was full of class 1-A students. The one to his right and the one he was sitting in were occupied by his classmates as well. Before, they'd all sat in various tables around the cafeteria. Now, it seemed as though the class had decided to imitate sardines and packed themselves tightly around each other. No one said a word, but he knew they were all thinking the same thing.

 _Where is she?_

He casually leaned back in his seat and suddenly saw the girl sitting at a table far from them. Himari was propping her head on one hand, and writing in a notebook with the other. She appeared completely at ease.  
 _She doesn't look very alert for someone whose cover was just blown._

"What are you looking at?!" Shouto whipped his head around, suddenly face to face with Bakugou, who had risen from his seat. The blonde looked behind him and spotted Himari. He muttered something under his breath and started walking towards her.

"Wait! How stupid are you to ignore All Might's order?" Shouto snapped, pushing back his chair.

"Pretty damn stupid!" Bakugou yelled, then paused. "Shut the hell up, Half-and-half!"

The boy was almost out of his seat when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked at Midoriya, who was holding on to him.

"Nothing is going to stop Kacchan. If you go too, it'll make a bigger scene." He looked tense.

"She- she'll be fine."

"That doesn't mean I'll allow him to blow up the cafeteria." He looked back, preparing to freeze Bakugou before he could do anything. Suddenly, Himari looked up, meeting his eyes and he swore he saw her head move slightly to the side.

 _Does she not want me to interfere?_

The girl turned her attention back to Bakugou, who'd finally reached her.

Shouto watched them closely for any sudden movements.

Bakugou said something to which Himari replied and returned back to her book, although he couldn't hear what they were saying. The boy appeared even angrier that she wasn't paying attention to him and slammed his fist on the table.

Shouto stood up, ready to end the fight before it began.

Bakugou's actions seemed to catch Himari's attention once more, because she suddenly turned to him again and said something. The boy was silent for a moment, before turning and stomping away, muttering something under his breath.

 _He's not that dumb after all._

He sat back down, releasing the breath he'd been subconsciously holding.

Asui and Yaoyoruzu sighed in relief.

Midoriya still looked worried.

Mineta scoffed.

"He should've fought her!" He declared.

Yaoyorozu looked at him, shocked.

"How could you say that? Just because of her - _past_ \- doesn't mean we should judge her so harshly! And Bakugou could've really hurt her!"

"I know why he said it," Jiro piped up. "He tried sneaking into the girls locker room and she caught him and called him a 'pervy little sh-"

"Anyways!" Mineta interrupted amongst the quiet laughter. "I don't see any of you going to sit with her!" The laughter stopped abruptly.

"You guys are the hypocrites! None of you trust her either!"

Several students looked down uncomfortably, but noone countered his argument.

 _I don't really blame them._

A bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone stood up quietly and made their way back into the classroom. Shouto looked back at Himari's table and realized it was empty.

~HIMARI~

"You shouldn't walk home alone, young Takahashi." All Might looked at the girl; students slowly trickled out of the classroom.

She sighed. "I'll be fine."

"I think someone should walk with you. It's a good opportunity to bond with a classmate."

"I'm not a child. I don't need a babysitter. I've walked home millions of times and nothing has ever happened. And I use public transportation; there's a much lower chance of me being attacked around a bunch of people." Himari tried to keep the anger out of her voice but didn't succeed.

 _Now I can't fucking walk home? Can I take a shit alone or do I need someone to go with me too?_

"I can escort you home, Takahashi." A voice interrupted them. The girl turned around, surprised to see Iida approaching her. He pushed his glasses onto his face. "I was made Class President thanks to you, so it is my duty to return the favor, both as your leader and friend." He declared solemnly.

Her eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

"Of course. I would never say sometime I don't mean. I am indebted to you." Iida swelled with righteousness.

 _Ok, calm down, Ghandi._

All Might's smile widened even further; Himari looked away to avoid being blinded.

"EXCELLENT IDEA, YOUNG IIDA! YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE A HERO!"

 _Thanks for including me in the discussion._

"... Alright then. Let's go." Himari lead Iida out of the classroom and into the hallway.

"Wait here. I have to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." She instructed once they were almost out of the building. The boy stopped immediately.

"Of course! I will remain here until you've relieved yourself!" He bellowed as she scurried away.

 _And I was just starting to like you._

She slipped past students and teachers, quickly exiting the school from the side. She walked to the entrance and was past the gates before Iida saw her. Himari scoffed to herself as she climbed onto the bus.

 _Friend my ass._

_ ~ERASERHEAD~

"Like I said a few days ago, the Sports Festival is in two weeks and you need to start preparing in order to show everyone what you're capable of. Speaking of, Takahashi will not be participating this year, but she'll help train all of you individually." A few people started whispering.

"How will she be training us, Sensei?" Kaminari asked curiously.

"She can explain more on that." Aizawa pulled his sleeping bag up as the girl walked towards the front of the classroom.

"You're in charge. There's 10 minutes before lunch, so explain til then." He burrowed himself in his bag but was more awake than he had been in a while.

 _Let's see how this plays out._

He strained his ears, ready to spring into action if need be.

A solid three minutes of dead silence ensued before the man heard a quiet muffled sound.

 _Someone is moving._

"Yes, Kaminari?" He heard Himari answer and suddenly had the urge to burst out laughing.

 _Are they that scared of her? Kaminari didn't raise his hand to ask me!_

"W-why will you be training us instead of participating in the festival?" he asked quietly. The room was extremely still.

"There are many reasons, actually." He heard Himari lean into the podium.

 _She's taking it more seriously than I thought._

"Besides the fact that Tomura Shigaraki knows who I am, there are other complications. If there was nothing barring me from joining, however, it wouldn't be much of a benefit for me. I've been training with different heroes for a long time, so they can choose me for an internship if they want to. I'm also at a completely different level than all of you, so it would be unfair for me to participate alongside you. I would probably have to compete with the upperclassmen."

At this, Aizawa heard a scraping noise from a chair against the floor that he knew was Bakugou's doing.

 _You had to say that._

"Yeah, right! I totally would've kicked your ass if that cement guy hadn't gotten in the way!" He snarled.

"Looks like you'll get another chance, right?" Her tone mocked him.

"Takahashi?" A female voice interrupted.

"Yes, Yaoyorozu?"

"We'll be engaging in combat with you for this training?"

"Yes. You will be fighting me in a setting that's very similar to what you will face in the sports festival. There will be a sign-in sheet posted later, if Aizawa Sensei ever gets around to it, and we can start right away!"

 _How dare you? I'm very productive!_

"That's it? We're just fighting you?" Sero asked, then seemed to regret it. "N-not that fighting you is something small, just that-"

"I will write an evaluation on your skills and what you can work on after each fight. I can guarantee this will help you immensely in the future. By the way, you can sign up more than once if you'd like."

"What if we don't want to sign up at all?" Mineta said loudly.

"It's mandatory. You have to fight me at least once in order to get credit. This counts as an assignment. I suppose you don't have to sign up; I can find you a few days before the festival, beat you to a pulp, and write an evaluation on it regardless. Tracking you down, however, sounds like a lot of extra work for me, so I can't guarantee you'll get a passing grade. So, as much as I'd like to avoid being anywhere near you, Raisin Boy, I suggest you sign up quickly." A few people chuckled quietly.

 _Clever._

"Are we being graded on how well we do, like the Aptitude test?" Ochako asked.

"No, the grading is completely up to me and I'm going based off of how much effort I feel like you're putting into it. Just try your hardest."

 _The grading is NOT fully up to you!_

"Yes, Iida?"

"Will my grade be lowered because I failed to escor- ?" Aizawa heard Iida yell.

"Keep your voice down, Iida. No I won't lower your grade. Let's forget about that whole ordeal." She cut him off.

Aizawa heard a muffled sound again, but this time it was much faster.

 _Someone is waving their hand very quickly for some reason._

"No more questions? None at all? All right, it's time for lunch now." The classroom became noisy again as students pushed their chairs back and left for lunch.

 _They were ignored._

Aizawa was about to emerge when he noticed Himari was still standing by him and she wasn't alone.

"T-takahashi," A voice whispered.

 _Midoriya. He was probably the one she ignored._

"What do you want, kid?" She answered shortly.

"I j-just wanted to say that I'm…." his voice trailed off.

"Spit it out. I haven't got all day." Himari sounded impatient.

"I… I'M NOT SORRY FOR WHAT I DID!" Midoriya yelled suddenly.

Aizawa started unzipping the bag quietly.

 _Those two could destroy this room pretty quickly._

"Really?" The girl answered quietly.

"You feeling ballsy all of a sudden? That's fine, I'm not sorry for what you did either. I never pretended to be something I'm not. You should know something, though. Just because you're training to be a hero, it doesn't mean life is going to be rainbows and sunshine from now on. You almost got yourself killed by acting recklessly, but don't worry. I'm going to put it in terms your tiny brain can understand, okay? " The room was so quiet Aizawa could hear the boy's panicky breathing.

 _That's enough._

He slid out of the bag and yawned deeply. Midoriya and Himari both shifted their attention to him. The boy bowed and left quickly.

"So, how'd it go? Everyone behave?" Aizawa asked the girl.

"Yeah, it was fine. Well, I'm starving so I better go-" She turned but the hero was already blocking her escape path.

"Are you alright?" He asked, somewhat hesitant.

 _Midoriya's probably worse off than you, now that I think about it._

Himari looked puzzled. "Yeah, I'm fine. When are you going to make that sign-up sheet?"

"Hey! How dare you talk like that in front of the other students?" He suddenly remembered.

She laughed and slipped past him and out the open door.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own my OC and some of the plot.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 8**

~SHOUTO~

As the class filed out, Shouto looked up at the list of names already filling the piece of paper that was taped next to the door.

 **SIGN-UP SHEET FOR H. TAKAHASHI'S TRAINING:**

 **BAKUGOU KATSUKI**

 **MIDORIYA IZUKU**

 **BAKUGOU KATSUKI! EVERYONE ELSE FUCK OFF!**

 _That's not going to be easy._

"Excuse me, Todoroki." He heard a cheerful voice behind him and moved out of the way as Himari approached.

She tried to grab the paper, but it was just out of reach. He leaned over her and quickly pulled it off the wall, suddenly tense again due to how close he was to her.

 _Should I not have done that? She couldn't reach it, though._

"Thank you," She smiled for the second time ever, revealing slight fangs, but this time she actually looked friendly. The girl took the paper and headed out the door.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" He said, surprising himself.

Himari paused and faced him. She was still smiling, and Shouto found himself slightly distracted by the transformation that occurred.

 _She looks so normal, it's strange._

"I'm fighting Bakugou and Midoriya today. I dislike Midoriya immensely so I'm going to thoroughly enjoy beating him, and fighting Bakugou is good practice as well. Want to come watch? They're probably going to be your biggest competition for the festival; you can get some pointers."

Normally, Shouto would've felt offended that someone thought he needed pointers, but he did want to talk to her.

 _Is this how it is to be on good terms with you?_

He followed her towards the back of the school, where a large white circle was painted on the dirt near the baseball diamond, where they'd had their Quirk aptitude test. Bakugou was already there, in his costume. He looked up as they approached.

"Let me go change and we can get started, _Short Fuse_." Himari beamed and left to the girls locker room.

 _Because he's like a bomb about to go off?_

"Hurry up, Yellow Eyes." He growled in response.

Shouto looked at the wide expanse of flat, empty space.

 _This is a good spot for a fight._

"You should go, Half-and-half." He turned to find the blonde stretching out his arms.

"After I fight her, she's not gonna be any condition to face anyone else, even dumbass Deku." He grinned.

"She surprised me the first few times, but I'm prepared now." Bakugou patted his grenades.

 _I somehow doubt that._

"I think I'll stay here." He answered.

"You signed up too, Todoroki?" Both boys turned to see Midoriya walking up to them, looking slightly nervous but determined.

"I-" Shouto started.

"Aha! Little old Midoriya's here! _Now_ it's a party!" A joyful call caused the three of them to look up at Himari, who looked happier than ever.

 _That's a bit disturbing, but I guess I understand._

"Alright then. You going first?" She looked at Midoriya who was immediately shoved to the side by Bakugou.

"I'M FIRST!" He bellowed.

She laughed and stepped into the circle.

Midoriya and Shouto walked to a bench a few feet away to watch.

"Now, in order to win, you must stay inside this circle and get your opponent outside of it. I'll write Bakugou's evaluation and grade based on the fight right after we've finished." The girl explained to Shouto.

The blonde chuckled darkly.

"If you're still conscious by then." He said confidently.

"Whenever you're ready," The girl directed at her opponent.

Bakugou tore through the air immediately and Himari ran to meet him. He aimed an explosion at her but she dodged quickly and grabbed his leg. Swinging him around, she slammed his body into the ground with a painful thud. He stood up and punched her in the abdomen, only to gasp in pain and hold his stomach. The girl took the opportunity to deal an uppercut that slightly lifted him off his feet. Shaking his head viciously, Bakugou launched himself into the air again, angrier than ever.

Shouto watched in awe. Himari would take direct hits without seeming fazed at all and would get Bakugou incredibly close to being out of bounds, only to let him back in. She was smiling the whole time. Bakugou looked serious and focused, and the only sounds coming from him were grunts of pain.

 _She's toying with him, like a cat with a mouse._

Meanwhile, Midoriya watched and muttered anxiously to himself. It was only when Bakugou had blasted a particularly powerful explosion at Himari's feet and then flew backwards did he suddenly raise his voice.

"Transfer! She's transferring his attacks back onto him! That's her Quirk!"

Shouto felt his eyes widen as he realized it was true.

 _That's why she doesn't get hurt. She can go all out and if she gets hit by a powerful opponent, it's better for her._

"But how can you fight against that? If you don't attack, she'll attack you and if you attack, it'll affect you! You can't win either way! What could affect that, though? What's her weakness?" He fell back into a lapse of whispering.

Shouto heard a strange noise and turned back to the fight; Himari had elbowed Bakugou in the throat. The boy clawed at his throat, seemingly unable to breathe. At this the girl kicked him in the chest and he fell on his back, his head completely out of the circle.

 _She won._

The girl approached him. He was breathing normally, but he wasn't standing up. She offered her hand to him and said something Shouto couldn't hear over Midoriya's erratic mumbling.

Bakugou looked at her and slowly grabbed her hand. She helped him up, and he walked over to the bench shared by Midoriya and him.

 _They're a lot friendlier with each other than I expected. She's talked to him more than anyone else I've seen._

"I'll just write some notes and we can start, kid." She told Midoriya and walked to her bag, on top of which lay a clipboard. She sat down, holding one hand over her chest and writing with the other.

 _She's not even out of breath._

Shouto glanced at Bakugou; the boy didn't look furious like he'd expected, but appeared to be thinking hard about something.

Midoriya looked at him too.

"K-Kacch-"

"Shut the fuck up Dekku, before I kick your ass." He responded, but still looked like he was contemplating something.

Shouto watched the next fight more closely, and Himari and Midoriya battled in close proximity, which turned out to be a mistake on his part; she was easily beating him.

 _He's probably thinking about when to use his Quirk and doesn't want to hit her because he knows he'll get the effect of it._

He continued to watch as Himari repeatedly slammed his face into the dirt.

 _Harsh._

She kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying towards the edge of the circle.

"C'mon, use it. It's your last attempt to win." She called out.

Bakugou, who hadn't been paying much attention, suddenly leaned forward, training his eyes on the pair.

Midoriya stood up slowly and clumsily. He glared at Himari who was several feet away, and with a yell started charging towards her.

Shouto felt himself tensing up.

 _She's powerful, but I don't think she can handle that._

The girl remained completely still as Midoriya got closer and closer.

Shouto clenched his hands into fists, his muscles becoming tense.

 _Do something, dammit!_

Yelling, Midoriya raised his fist, which was glowing with powerful energy. The ground shook with the force of his hit and the pair were enveloped in a cloud of dust.

Shouto and Bakugou stood up at the same time. He moved slowly towards the pair, afraid of what he was going to find.

 _Why didn't she do anything?!_

The dust started clearing up, and he spotted a shadow standing in the circle and one on the floor several feet away. He hurried towards the one on the floor while Bakugou approached the circle.

"Takahashi! Are you alright? Why didn't you move? Did you think you could-" Shouto's voice caught in his throat as he looked down. The person on the floor was _Midoriya_. He whipped his head towards the circle, where Himari and Bakugou were talking.

Midoriya coughed weakly and Shouto hesitantly helped him up. The boy actually didn't look any more beat up than usual and his arm was broken. He looked down as Himari and Bakugou approached.

"Go get yourselves treated by Recovery Girl. I'll have your evaluations tomorrow before class." She instructed, then turned away from them.

"What did you do?" Midoriya mumbled, his head still down.

The girl paused, looking back him.

 _I want to know too._

"What do you think?" She asked.

"You took a hit like that and you're not hurt at all!" He looked up, angry yet fearful.

Himari scoffed.

"Unfortunately for you, I didn't take that directly. What do you think I am, suicidal?" She chastised and continued walking.

Bakugou left without addressing anyone.

Shouto watched as she had almost reached the locker rooms before he remembered why he'd stayed in the first place.

"Takahashi!" He called as he ran towards her. She stopped and looked at him curiously. Her pupils had become round and almost as large as her yellow irises after the fight.

"Yes, Todoroki? Questions? Comments?"

 _Is that how her eyes get when she's happy? Like a cat?_

Shouto stared for a few seconds before digging in his bag and pulling out a small box, which he handed the girl.

"What's this?" She chirped.

 _Why is she acting like that? It's… different._

"A peace offering. I truly wish to apologize for what happened before." He said.

 _I'm still going to beat you._

She opened the box, revealing a folded piece of white ribbon. Pulling it out, she had a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

"It's for your costume." He said, which only seemed to confuse her more. Shouto took the ribbon carefully and stepped closer to the girl. He pulled up the collar of Himari's costume and slipped his hands behind her neck to put the ribbon in place. Her hair was like a curtain and he did his best not to get his hands or the ribbon tangled in it. It was only when he felt her breathing into his chest did he realize how close they were. He looked at her, slightly alarmed at how violently she could react. She wasn't looking at him, but silently held her hair out of the way. Shouto cleared his throat and adjusted her collar. He then tied the ribbon into a large bow in the front of her shirt, which covered the opening she disliked so much. While working, he tried to keep looking ahead and not down, which was difficult due to the obvious height difference, and immediately stepped back after he'd finished, feeling his right side flare up more than usual.

"You seemed distracted by the opening, so I figured this could cover it without you having to design another costume. I asked Yaoyorozu to make it from the same material." He said carefully.

 _What if she thinks I'm a pervert? I didn't even ask if I could put it on her._

Himari looked down at the bow for a few seconds, then back at him.

He felt beads of sweat starting to form on the right side of his forehead while frost began spreading on the left side.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do this, but I really appreciate it." She smiled again, and Shouto inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll be very careful with it. See you tomorrow, Todoroki!" She waved and disappeared into the locker rooms.

"Thank you. I mean, you're welcome. See you.." He muttered.

 _What am I saying?!_

He shook off his behavior as surprise in the sudden change in her attitude. As he walked home, he mulled over the events of the afternoon.

 _I wonder how Bakugou got over his anger about Bishamon. And how did she beat Midoriya? She said she didn't take a direct hit, so what did she do?_

When he got home he started training right away and didn't stop until nightfall.

 _Whatever she did, I need to make sure I don't get defeated as easily as the others._

~HIMARI~

"Nice job, Uraraka." Himari turned to offer her hand but the girl had already scrambled up.

"Thanks." She whispered and rubbed her sore arm.

"Were you the last one for today?" The girl asked as she filled out a piece of paper.

 _I think I only had 3 people sign up today._

"No." A male voice made her look up. Todoroki Shouto was standing a few feet away, and Uraraka had fled.

 _Bye, Uraraka. Yes, I did enjoy our time together, thank you for asking._

"Oh. Give me a minute, Todoroki!" She looked at her papers again.

 _I don't think he's on the list but whatever._

She finished jotting down a few notes and readjusted her bow.

 _It really does cover it well._

"You've been happier these past few days than I've ever seen you," Todoroki commented.

Himari looked up again; he looked at her seriously.

 _You're so stiff. It's kinda cute._

"I enjoy fighting." She answered.

"Is it the fighting or the winning part that you enjoy?" He asked.

"Both. Don't tell me you don't like it either." She stood up and stretched her arms.

"Ready?"

The boy nodded and both of them walked into the circle.

"At your signal." She stated.

Shouto immediately sent a wave of ice towards her. She dived out of the way but her foot became encased in ice. She landed awkwardly but slammed her foot down, breaking some of the ice. The boy fired again, aiming for her but she slid behind the ice he'd made before. Circling around the slight wall quickly, she ran and aimed a kick at his right side with her frozen leg. He stumbled and she melted a bit more ice off. Shouto quickly raised a wall between them, standing up. She could see his chest rising and falling rapidly.

Staring at him, she knocked on the wall, which was only a few feet high, but thick enough to encumber her.

"Get rid of this before I do something you won't like." She called.

"What _can_ you do to this?" He asked.

"Not to this, Todoroki. To you." Himari answered and raised her foot, still partially covered in ice. She then kicked the wall violently several times, sending tiny shards flying. She continued chipping away the ice until she heard Shouto grunt in pain, grasping his leg.

"That's just a sprain now, but I can make it much worse. Lower the wall."

"You- transferred the injury. Midoriya was right." He recalled, then stepped forward slightly with his right foot. The wall began to turn into steam.

 _Perfect._

Himari waited until the wall was mostly dissolved and a cloud of steam was between them, then charged forward, tackling Shouto. They fell backwards, and the girl tried to stand up but the boy tripped her. She let herself fall face first, slamming into the ground; her opponent's nose spouted blood. As he clapped a hand over his face, she lifted one knee up, preparing to stand. Hands suddenly gripped her shoulders.

 _Up you go._

Not waiting for him to get a chance to freeze her, the girl grabbed his arms and lifted him forward and over her head as she stood, slamming him into the dust with as much force as she could muster.

He coughed and tried to get up, but she held him down gently.

"It's over."

Shouto's upper body was inside the circle but the rest of him was out.

After a moment, she helped him to his feet.

 _That was a good fight._

He stumbled slightly and she quickly placed his arm around her shoulder and her own around him and walked him to a bench. Once he was sitting, she began rummaging in her bag.

The boy stared at her.

"You _are_ that strong." He said, emotionless.

"That's what I've been saying this whole time." She replied, handing him a towel.

"Why are you being so helpful?" Shouto demanded.

"I just beat you, which is something I bet you haven't experienced in a long time, so your ego is wounded too." She answered, smirking.

"You didn't help Midoriya and Bakugou this much."

"I helped Short Fuse stand up! And I made sure he was breathing alright!" She replied, indignant.

"What about Midoriya? His arm was broken." He asked as she reached for her clipboard.

"You might find this hard to believe, but we don't get along." She scribbled some notes for herself.

"Is that why you were so cruel to him?" The boy asked pensively.

 _You think that was cruel?_

She laughed. "Do you remember what I said to the class right after All Might told you guys about Bishamon?"

Shouto looked thoughtful.

"You don't owe anyone anything, and you're here for one reason only. If people insist on fighting," He became quiet as realization dawned on his face.

"I'll continue to beat them until they understand. Midoriya's mindset towards me hasn't changed because he's too stubborn to see my side of things. That paired with his jealousy of my relationship with All Might doesn't allow him to see what's in front of his face. Even Short Fuse got it after our fourth or fifth fight." She put her pen down.

"That wasn't the first time?" He asked, then seemed to think better of it.

 _So that's why..._

"It wasn't my first time fighting Midoriya either." She added. "You did pretty good today, Todoroki. I'm sure you can go far in the festival."

"I _will_ be number one." He answered without a trace of hesitation.

Himari rolled eyes.

 _What is it with this obsession to be number one? It's so annoying._


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hello again! Like usual, I'm uploading two chapters at once; thank you all for the support! I'm really glad you guys like my story; I was afraid not many people would since Himari is against Midoriya. I see you guys have favorited/followed, so please write me a review! It's killing me inside that I don't know what you guys are thinking! PLEASE! You can even PM me what you think! Anyways, enjoy!

P.S. I was always iffy about the name, but I only recently decided to change it! I think the new title fits much better!

Disclaimer: I own only my OC and some of the plot of this awesome manga/anime.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter Nine**

~ERASERHEAD~

"In first place, Team Todoroki!" Present Mic announced. Aizawa looked into the arena at his students.

 _The run-in with those villains really helped them. They don't hesitate at all._

"Second place, Team Bakugou! Third, Team Te- I mean, Team Shinso!" Present Mic sounded baffled.

"When did that happen?! Who saw it?" He asked, surprised.

 _I did._

"A-anyways, in fourth place, Team Midoriya!" The Pro Hero continued. "These teams will proceed to the next round, which will start after a one-hour lunch break."

He looked at Aizawa. "Wanna grab some food?"

"I'm going to take a nap."

~SHOUTO~

 _I'm going to beat you!_

Midoriya's response sounded in his head as Shouto walked down the stadium hall. He clenched his fists angrily.

"Watch it." Looking up, he realized he'd almost walked into someone due to his distraction. A girl with long braids, a baseball cap over her head and sunglasses stood in front of him. She was wearing a black t-shirt with some logo he didn't recognize, a denim skirt, and holding a plastic container of pickled radish.

"Tsk. First your dad almost burns me into a crisp for not moving out of the way and now you too? Men." She snapped.

He looked at her.

"Takahashi?"

The girl smiled, flashing her sharp canines.

"In the flesh."

"What are you doing here? And how do you know my father?" He asked.

"Principal Nezu said it was fine as long as I kept my features hidden and didn't wear our uniform. I wanted to see the work I put into the class." She answered.

"...And I kind of tried to kill Endeavor the first time I saw him." Himari added, popping a piece of radish into her mouth with a toothpick.

Shouto's eyes widened.

"You tried to kill him?" He asked, wondering if he'd misheard.

"Yup. You probably wouldn't have had such a hard time if I'd done it, huh? Sorry about that." The boy continued to stare at her.

 _Am I imagining things from putting too much pressure on myself?_

"On the other hand, I would've been killed by the other heroes back then, so it's probably a good thing I didn't."

 _...What?_

She started walking away.

"Wait." He called out. Himari turned to him again.

"What'd you do?" He asked, suddenly regretting the question.

She raised her toothpick to her throat and Shouto felt a slight pricking sensation in his own.

"Just pretend that's a knife." She said, lowering her hand.

"Good luck out there, Todoroki." She left.

Shouto felt himself shiver involuntarily.

 _What the hell?!_

~HIMARI~

 _Ochako really tried her best. It was inevitable that she would lose against him, though._

Himari ignored the others' comments about Bakugou as the boy threw himself into the seat next to hers.

"Nice job, Short Fuse." She said, selecting another piece of radish from her container. He responded by yanking the toothpick out of her hand and stuffing it in his mouth. He ate the radish angrily, then raised an eyebrow at her.

 _I'll let that slide because I feel bad for you right now. Beating Ochako must've been hard on you._

"It's good, right?" She laughed and pulled a switchblade out of her pocket to use as a utensil.

"Umm, Takahashi?" She turned to Yaoyorozu, who was giving her a concerned look along with the rest of the students inside the stadium.

"Here you go." She offered Himari a plastic toothpick that was forked on one end.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu." The girl returned the knife to her pocket and accepted the toothpick. The rest of the class visibly relaxed.

 _The training didn't really help. Not that it matters._

She turned back to the front, pretending not to notice; Bakugou continued eating radish steadily.

"Takahashi, how'd you beat Tokoyami?" Kirishima asked suddenly.

Himari laughed and Tokoyami bowed his head.

"Dark Shadow tried to possess me." She answered, laughing even harder as she remembered.

"It's not funny. It took all my strength to keep him from taking over you." The boy said gravely.

"Woah, really?" Kaminari exclaimed. "What'd it feel like?"

Himari stopped laughing.

"It felt like I could have all the power in the world if I gave in to my darkest desires." She said calmly.

The class fell silent.

She burst out laughing again.

"I'm joking! I didn't really feel anything because Dark Shadow was just kind of holding me to try to absorb me into him. I'm not sure he knows how to fuse with anyone other than Tokoyami." She assured the class.

They still looked alarmed.

 _Alrighty, forced interaction with others is over._

Suddenly, a blast of fire lit up the arena. Himari looked down at Todoroki.

 _He's finally using his right side._

The two opponents ran at each other with everything they had. A wave of heat, dust and wind flew upwards from their impacts, forcing the students backwards in their chairs.

 _Show-offs._

Present Mic announced Todoroki as the winner.

Himari smiled and nudged Bakugou's side.

"I told you the kid would lose."

He grunted.

"I knew he would."

Stealing the last piece of radish, he stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to win this." The blonde declared and exited.

Midoriya was taken to the nurse due to his injuries and Iida, Uraraka, Asui, and Mineta left to visit him.

The battle of Kaminari and Bakugou began; Kaminari lasted a while due to his hardening Quirk but he was eventually taken down.

Todoroki and Iida fought next; Iida came incredibly close to beating him before Todoroki froze his whole body.

Bakugou and Tokoyami went after; Tokoyami gave up after seeing Dark Shadow was no match against Bakugou's bright explosions.

 _So, Short Fuse and Todoroki are the last two. Figures._

Suddenly, Iida's entire body vibrated, slightly alarming Himari, Uraraka, and Midoriya.

"My phone's ringing. I better go take this." He stood up and left.

Midoriya watched him go and made eye contact with Himari who was a few seats down.

She met his nervous glance with a detached expression, and he looked away shortly.

 _What's your problem, kid?_

She said nothing and crossed her arms, staring straight ahead. The fight had already begun, but she wasn't really watching.

 _You little shit. You think you're so damn noble. You couldn't be more wrong about me._

The girl watched him cheer on Todoroki.

 _That's total bullshit._

Another large explosion sounded, and Bakugou was announced the winner.

The class walked down into the grass, except for Iida, who left early because his brother was attacked, and Himari.

She watched All Might give the students a speech on hard work and rolled her eyes. The girl put her sunglasses back on and sneaked towards the mostly empty food stalls while everyone was distracted.

 _That bastard ate all my radish._


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This is a very lengthy and exciting chapter that I really enjoyed writing and I hope you'll enjoy reading! Again, I beg of you to leave me a review! It doesn't have to be positive, I just wanna know what you guys think! It could even be one word! You could just write 'meh' and I would be satisfied! Well, not totally, but you know what I mean! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own only my OC and some plotwork of this awesome manga/anime.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter Ten**

~MIDNIGHT~

"These are the numbers of sponsors everyone received. As expected, the top two places snagged the most." Aizawa commented.

"Takahashi! How'd _you_ get so many? You didn't even participate!" Someone yelled among the various conversations.

 _Himari-chan has a lot of talent so she's bound to get a lot of sponsors after hearing about her through us!_

The woman joined Aizawa at the front of the class.

"All right. Who wants to go first? How about Himari-chan?" Midnight called out after Aizawa left her in charge of helping the students with their aliases.

The kids started murmuring to themselves as the girl stood up and walked to the front of the class.

Himari turned and showed the class what was written on her board.

 **KARMA**

The heroine smiled. "Excellent choice! It depicts your Quirk and is simple to remember! Next!" She resisted hugging the girl on the spot before she returned to her seat.

Aoyama went next.

 **I cannot stop twinkling**

"That's a full sentence. Try making it a little shorter." She instructed and looked around the class.

 **ALIEN QUEEN**

"Like the movie? That's terrible!"

Mina slumped back to her seat.

Midnight smiled as she helped the rest of the class.

 _These kids are so creative!_

Once everyone was finished, Aizawa took over again to instruct the class to choose an agency for their internships.

 _I wonder who you're going to choose, Himari-chan! I hope it's me!_

SHOUTO~

Shouto gripped his phone, staring hard at the message from Midoriya.

 _It's just an alley in Hosu. What does that mean?_

Suddenly, he realized.

"Send any available pros to an alley at 4-2-10 Ekou Street after you've finished." He instructed his father and started running.

 _I hope I'm not too late!_

He heard loud sounds to his left a few streets ahead and picked up the pace. When he finally turned, he saw the Hero Killer, Stain, attacking Midoriya.

 _It really is Stain._

He immediately sent a wave of ice his way. Iida and another hero lay on the floor. The man responded quickly, hurling a knife at Shouto, which sliced the boy's cheek.

"Todoroki, watch out!" Midoriya shouted as the villain suddenly flew towards him, almost licking his cut. The boy released flames towards him, which caused him to fly backwards.

"You're strong." Stain commented as he fought back, quickly breaking through the ice he'd created and aiming for him again.

Midoriya attacked his left side from the air and the Hero Killer flew backwards.

"He can paralyze you by ingesting your blood!" The green-haired boy hurriedly informed him.

The boys tensed.

 _We need a plan._

"He's too fast. We have to hold him off until the pro's arrive." Shouto said, wracking his brain for any effective form of attack.

"I can help with that." They heard a voice behind them and saw a black and white blur speeding towards Stain's direction.

 _Takahashi?!_

Midoriya looked like he wanted to go after her, but Shouto held him back.

"Her Quirk! It's more effective than all of ours right now." He recalled.

They looked up to see the girl kick the villain in the abdomen, and he skidded backwards but swung his sword in her direction. She held up an arm and the blade sliced through her glove. The villain's sword slid out of his hand as his arm spurted blood. He gripped it, confused.

"What did you do?" He yelled as she ran backwards.

"Todoroki!" She directed.

Shouto aimed more ice his way, but the villain was no longer attacking. His red eyes examined his arm curiously and then moved to Himari. She was kneeling by Native, looking over him.

"He's paralyzed but I don't think he's seriously hurt." The boy said, helping her lift him and move him a few feet away from the fight.

Shouto shot a quick glance at Stain, but the man allowed them to move.

 _Why is he not attacking?_

They hurried back, but the villain was fighting Midoriya and Iida, who'd stood up.

 _I guess he changed his mind._

"I'm sorry you three were dragged into this, but I promise no more blood will be shed today." Iida vowed as he hit Stain with a particularly powerful kick that knocked him off his feet.

The Hero Killer stood up faster than Shouto thought possible and targeted Midoriya again.

 _He knows it's pointless to fight Takahashi, so he'd rather paralyze Midoriya again._

Midoriya raised a fist crackling with power, but the villain had two swords.

 _He's strong, but Stain has the upper hand here._

"Move, Midoriya!" He yelled, but the boy charged towards him regardless. His fist made contact and they were enveloped in dust as shards of rubble flew everywhere. As the aircleared, Shouto immediately wished it hadn't.

Stain had faked targeting Midoriya, who missed him and hit the asphalt instead; the boy fainted almost immediately from exhaustion, his broken arm under him. The Hero Killer, however, hadn't missed at all.

He heard a voice yell but it seemed quiet compared to the sudden roaring in his ears. Time suddenly seemed to slow down, offering him a detailed view of the terrifying scene in front of him.

Himari and the Stain hadn't moved; he approached them, but it felt as though Shouto was walking in quicksand and they were miles away.

The girl and villain had locked eyes and were in similar positions. Stain's eyes, however, were wide with surprise. Himari's yellow eyes didn't leave her opponent, not even to look at the swords he'd buried in her abdomen.

Shouto had finally reached them, heart thudding painfully in this chest.

 _What do I do..._

"You… You," The villain faltered, shocked. He looked down at his own torso, which was bleeding steadily from two vertical gashes.

She gripped his arms, which were still holding onto the swords, and looked at Shouto.

"A little help?" Himari asked calmly.

Shouto completely encased the Hero Killer in a block of ice. He fell silent.

"No, not like that! Lift his arms above his head and freeze them like that. Leave the rest of him alone." She corrected, moving slightly so she was out of the man's reach.

"Why-"

"If I transferred the wound completely, he'd die. It's not up to us to determine someone else's life, even if he's done so." She expressed.

He stared at the blood leaking from her wounds.

"Todoroki, focus. Don't worry about me. I'm fine." She instructed, and lifted her own arms over her head.

Shouto tore his eyes away from the swords and thawed the villain partially, lifting his arms and refreezing them in an upright position.

"Now, make a thin layer around his abdomen, but don't freeze it completely. It should help slow down the bleeding." She demanded.

"Alright, what else?" He asked after he was done.

 _I'm going to go insane._

"Check on the others. Make sure they're alright."

"You shouldn't be moving. Just tell me what to do." He said, forcing himself not to look at the blood glistening off the blades that left the girl's back.

He could hear her taking short breaths, as she looked at the restrained villain.

"You are allowing yourself to be hurt so that I don't die? I'm the one who put you in this position." He commented, meeting the girl's eyes.

"It's not in my best interest for you to die right now, no matter who you are." She answered, staring back.

Shouto looked up from checking on Midoriya at them.

 _What's going on?_

The man laughed maniacally. "Well," he began joyfully, "that's not very heroic of you. This is exactly what I was talking about; heroes are only doing what is _in their best interest_." If he was in pain, he didn't show it; Stain continued looking at her interestedly.

"A snake," He said softly. "A snake with the potential to kill me." His smile stretched out his face, appearing more terrifying than ever.

"However, I only want one person to be in charge of whether I live or die, and that is _not_ you." Without warning, Stain swung his arms down and let himself fall forward. The ice broke under him with a dull sound.

Himari gripped her abdomen with a sharp intake, which began bleeding more.

Iida ran towards Stain, but Shouto froze him before he could reach the man.

"Don't attack, Iida. If you hurt him, you'll hurt Takahashi too." He looked at the girl.

"I'm alright. Get him back in the same position, but freeze his arms all the way." She said quietly.

He thawed Iida and they both lifted the villain's arms while Shouto refroze them. For the second time, the enemy didn't fight back.

"Todoroki, make a big block of ice for him to sit on. If we allow him to stand, there's a bigger risk of him getting away. We also need to restrain his legs, but I don't want to freeze them." Himari directed.

"Help Native and Midoriya. I'll take care of her." Shouto told Iida, who ran off after following the girl's instructions.

He approached Himari, who was patting the sides of her belt.

"Keep your arms up, I'll get whatever it is." He instructed, looking at his gift around her neck; it was still clean and perfectly tied, the ghostly fabric bright against the dark, dirty walls surrounding them.

"My knife." She said, blinking hard.

 _Are you having trouble seeing? You must be worse than you're letting on._

Shouto unsheathed a hunting knife from her utility belt, his fingers trembling slightly.

"What do you want this for?" He asked, tense.

"I need you to immobilize him. Make a cut behind both of my knees with this." She informed him.

He stared blankly.

 _?_

"I'm not going to do that." He answered flatly.

"Why not?"

"What do you mean 'why not'? Will you even be able to transfer that without losing focus on the swords?" The boy demanded.

"I wouldn't tell you about it if I didn't think I could handle it." She insisted stubbornly.

"Forget it. I'll do it myself." The girl leaned forward slowly and almost fell face first; Shouto frantically grasped her shoulders and helped her straighten up. He was centimeters away from the sword hilts, and tried desperately to avoid touching them.

"I-I'll do it, just stay still." He said, forcing himself to calm down.

"It's just behind the knee. Don't be scared, I won't get hurt."

Gritting his teeth, he bent down and swiftly sliced at the ligaments behind her knee. The costume ripped, but her skin remained intact; Stain grunted in pain. He repeated the process with the next leg and returned the knife, helping Himari lean against the wall of a building for support.

"I told you it was fine. Now he can't run away." She said shakily.

Shouto watched her warily.

 _You scare me for a lot of different reasons._

Native, who was carrying Midoriya on his back, and Iida approached the pair. She nodded at Shouto, who began moving the block of ice that held their captive forward.

Slowly, the group began walking out of the alley.

"Takahashi, it's all my fault that you're hurt! Tell me what I can do to help! I can carry you!" Iida cried, tears dripping from his eyes.

"It's not your fault, Iida. It was reckless of you to come alone, but it's alright now. And I'm fine like this; changing to a lying position could lead to much worse problems." She assured him, holding onto his arm as they walked.

"Still, I feel terrible. All of you were hurt due to my selfish actions." He said.

"Actually, I'm the one that feels terrible." Himari corrected. All three stopped walking and looked at her in alarm before shouting things all at once.

"I'm joking, guys, calm down." She smiled, but Shouto wasn't convinced.

 _Yeah, right._

"How is it exactly that you have blades sticking out of your body and can walk around like this?" Native asked, concerned.

"I've split the damage halfway between us so we can both be stable." She replied.

"Why don't you transfer it completely? I'm sure the Pros will be here soon. They can take care of him." The man retaliated.

"That wouldn't work out for either of us. He would bleed out before they could arrive, and I don't want to be responsible for his death. By sharing it between us, I can get these removed and can heal myself good as new."

"You have a healing Quirk, too?" Shouto asked.

"I can control how much I heal, so I can speed it up a bit if I'm in trouble but I never really considered it a Quirk. It's just something I inherited from my mother." She said slowly.

"Help should be here soon." Native declared.

"Gran Torino! What are YOU doing here?" Midoriya suddenly yelled, having gained consciousness during the conversation.

A tiny old man bounced across the street towards them and kicked Midoriya in the face.

Himari chuckled.

Shouto glanced at her.

 _If you can laugh, you must be doing okay, I suppose._

"Glad to see you're still alive. Is that Stain?" The old man said as someone else spotted them.

A group of heroes hurried towards the sidewalk they were on.

"Kids! Someone call an ambulance! They're bad-" A man's breath caught in his throat as he looked at Himari. The rest of the adults started shouting again in panicked voices.

They took the bound Stain and looked desperately at the girl, unsure of what to do.

"Be careful with him. My wound is connected to his, so he has to come to the hospital with me." She said, slurring her speech slightly.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hi guys! I wanted to give a shoutout out to 'Reeses and Gara' and 'SheraYuki' for writing me such kind words! I truly felt extremely happy to see your reviews and provided me with motivation to continue this story! Readers, let's keep this going! Anyway, please enjoy these new chapters! This one is only in Himari's POV but it's quite long.

Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and some of the plot to this anime/manga.

Gen info: italicized text = thoughts, bold text = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 11**

~HIMARI~

 _Himari looked around the dark hall that stretched out for what seemed like miles. It was lit by a dim bulb. A door was at the farthest end, so the girl began to walk, noticing she was much younger than her actual age; she had short legs and was dressed in a man's dress shirt, which swallowed her almost entirely._

' _Why am I so small?'_

 _At the end of the hall lay a crumpled mass. As she got closer, she noticed that it was a man lying on the floor, limbs stretched out and bent oddly. The closer she was, the larger the man became, growing before her eyes. His head was twisted around so that his hair was facing the collar of his white shirt. She kneeled by his head, stretching out short limbs. Himari was millimeters away from touching the man's hair when his head turned back around, revealing yellow eyes and a wide smile. Blood leaked from every orifice of his face._

" _Playtime's over!"_

Himari sat up with a start and regretted it immediately. Her stomach churned and she placed a hand on her abdomen, feeling the bandages around it. She looked around, noticing the three occupied beds in the hospital room.

 _They're sleeping._

Slowly, she lowered her legs onto the floor and shakily made her way to the bathroom, stopping every few feet to rest. She was almost at the door when she looked at the bed directly next to it. Iida was sleeping flat on his back, still as a rock.

The girl chuckled to herself.

 _Even when he's sleeping he's stiff as hell._

Once inside, Himari emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet and rinsed her mouth in the sink.

 _Wow, I look terrible._

Her curly hair was incredibly disheveled and dark rings stood out below her pale eyes. She gathered her hair into a braid and slipped out. The girl closed the door as gently as possible and turned around only to come face to face with Iida.

"What the hell, Iida?!" She cried, leaping back, then wincing slightly at her quick movements.

"I'm sorry, Takahashi! I was concerned for your well-being! You were taking a long time in there!" He said exasperatedly.

She sighed and sat on the edge of his bed.

 _I'm glad you're back to normal, Iida._

"Are you okay?" Himari turned to see Shouto approaching and Midoriya sitting up and looking at them.

"I'm fine, I was just a little surprised." She answered. "Are you guys alright?"

Iida and Todoroki nodded as Midoriya slipped out of bed and joined them.

"Why did you come, Takahashi?" The green-haired boy asked suddenly, not making eye contact.

"... I had a feeling someone was in trouble." She explained.

 _What kind of question is that?_

"But _I_ was the one who sent the message. You don't like me."

She huffed, annoyed.

"Look, Midoriya. That's what part of being a hero is about. I wasn't going to ignore the message just because it came from you. I'm not as shitty of a person as you think."

 _You bastard. I'd kick your ass right now if I could._

"I'M SO SORRY, ALL OF YOU!" Iida suddenly bowed to the others. "YOU WERE ALL PUT IN DANGER BECAUSE OF MY SELFISH ACTIONS! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU." His tears dripped onto the floor.

Himari patted him on the shoulder.

 _You're such a good guy. Way better than Midoriya, who you admire for some reason._

"It's okay, Iida. We all came to help you by choice. You didn't force us into doing anything, and we had no idea this was going to happen." She comforted him.

The boy looked up, still crying.

"YOU COULD'VE D… DIED!" He yelled.

"I told you, I was never in real danger of dying. I know what I can handle and I'm perfectly alright now. I've… this is something I've dealt with before. It's just been a while so I was a little out of practice." She repeated.

 _It's actually a really good thing I got stabbed instead of any of you guys._

"What you can do to make it up is to pull yourself together." Todoroki added, sitting down next to Himari.

"You're the class President. It's your job to remain calm and lead us." He continued.

"I owe you all an apology as well." The girl claimed.

The three boys turned to her curiously.

"I'm sorry for traumatizing you with the whole sword thing. I really was fine but I could see you guys were terrified. Especially you, Todoroki, with the legs and stuff." She looked at Shouto apologetically.

 _I really mean it._

"Don't mention it." Todoroki muttered and the others nodded in agreement.

"How'd they take them out anyways?" Iida asked, and Todoroki shot him a look of disapproval.

"It's alright. First, they had to have two teams of people, one for me, and one for Stain. They kept him stable while removing the swords slowly so neither one of us would bleed too much. Then they checked for internal damage, most of which I was able to get under control, did some more healing, then stitched us up. It wasn't too complicated." She described, somewhat proud.

 _They didn't even have to call Recovery Girl!_

Todoroki stared at her intensely, making her wonder if she'd misspoken.

"They didn't put you under?" He asked.

"If they had, I wouldn't have been able to regulate the amount of damage. One or both of us could've gone into in much worse conditions." She stated matter-of-factly.

 _Impressive, right?_

Todoroki appeared more solemn than ever, while Iida looked like he was going to start crying again. The girl refused to check Midoriya's reaction.

She cleared her throat awkwardly.

"It's kind of hot in here, right? Do-" Himari started but was cut off when the Todoroki placed a cold hand on her forehead.

"Uuumm." She might have protested, but his hand was very refreshing against her skin.

 _You're sort of impulsive at times, Todoroki. I wonder why._

"You might have a fever, have your wounds been checked?" He asked.

"Oh, the little warriors are awake." A voice interrupted them.

The four of them looked towards the door as the little old man, Mr. Manual, Ectoplasm, and a giant man with the head of a dog entered the room.

Ectoplasm looked at Himari, and she looked down, suddenly embarrassed to be seen in such a state by her mentor. Todoroki lowered his hand; they all stood and faced the adults.

The elder hero approached them first.

"We want to talk to you, but first, you have a visitor." He gestured towards the man.

"This is Mr. Kenji Tsugaramae, Hosu's chief of police."

"So you are the students who captured the Hero Killer last night, woof." The man said in a deep voice.

 _Woof?!_

"The villain is currently being treated for a number of serious injuries, woof." He explained, looking at Himari.

 _It's not my fault I got stabbed!_

"The only people currently able to use Quirks as weapons would be heroes. This was able to happen because all the people before you acted morally." The chief continued.

 _Oh shit._

Himari felt herself tense up.

"When people to use their Quirks without permission, even against the Hero Killer, that is a breach of the law. You four, as well as your mentors: Ectoplasm, Endeavor, Manual, and Gran Torino. You all must be punished."

"Wait a minute," Todoroki interjected, looking at them. "If Iida hadn't been there, Native would've been killed. And if Midoriya and Takahashi hadn't shown up, Stain would've probably killed us all. No one even knew he was here." He raised his voice, defiant.

Midoriya tried holding him back but failed miserably.

Himari made no effort to stop him; she enjoyed seeing the boy riled up about something when he was usually calm and collected.

 _Yeah, Todoroki, let 'em have it!_

"Were we supposed to let people die just because of the 'law'?" He continued. "Everything is fine now, so why not ignore the stupid law?! It's a hero's job to save people!"

"Hmm. You have a lot to learn, woof." The man responded, locking eyes with the boy.

"Everything I just said is what I'm _expected_ to say as the chief of police. What really matters is if we go to the public about this." Chief Tsugaramae looked at the group, his eyes lingering on Himari a bit longer than the rest.

She maintained eye contact, even though her hands started shaking slightly. She gripped the sides of her pants to hide it.

 _Does he know about me? He should, right? Did Ectoplasm say anything?_

Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder. The girl felt self-conscious as warmth spread from it. The shakiness lessened.

 _Was it that obvious? I probably look weak to the others right now._

Himari and Shouto didn't look at each other, which she was grateful for; she was angry at herself.

"If we tell the press, you'll be congratulated by the citizens, but there's no way you can avoid punishment. The villain Stain has burn marks that will support Endeavor's story as the main man, however. All you must do is keep the truth to yourselves. He will receive the recognition, and this can be settled quickly but, no one will know of your accomplishments. What do you say?"

"Either way, we are to blame for this. We need to take responsibility." Mr. Manual commented, punishing Iida by hitting him on the head.

"You should've been more careful, Himari-chan. A lot of people were worried about you." Ectoplasm added.

Shouto's hand left her shoulder.

"I'm very sorry." She bowed.

 _Why is everybody making me feel so bad?_

"Life is unfair. You won't get to reap any of the benefits you otherwise would have, but as someone determined to keep the peace, I thank you." The chief bowed to them as well.

After they left, a doctor came in to check on Himari, and was slightly alarmed when Todoroki informed him she had a fever and the chills. The girl stifled her laughter as she was examined very thoroughly.

 _Thank God he just thinks I'm sick._

The doctor determined that, luckily, all she needed was rest. She smiled to herself, satisfied with her abilities.

He then moved on to Iida and told him his left hand could be permanently damaged.

Himari was tempted to heal it, but changed her mind after seeing Iida's reaction.

"This will serve as a reminder of my careless actions." he said, determined.

 _If only there was a lesson that someone else could learn about being careless._

Looking at the girl, he added, "I'm sorry you have to bear the scars as well, Takahashi."

"Don't worry, Iida. I'm glad I was able to help. " She said cheerfully, tuning out the conversation between the doctor and Midoriya.

 _You can stop beating yourself up about it._

The boy still looked down; Todoroki stared at nothing in particular, his eyes distant.

 _What's up with you guys? The worst is over._

"...In light of this unique experience, I would say almost all of us have gotten closer, don't you think? You guys can call me Himari-san, if you'd like." She felt her face heat up a bit.

"Midoriya, you can call me Sensei." The girl added.

Iida's face lit up.

"Gladly." He said cheerfully.

Todoroki's eyes met hers, and he nodded once.

Himari breathed a sigh of relief, then patted her abdomen.

 _I'm lucky I stayed so calm last night. I really thought it was the end for me._


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This chapter may seem a bit boring compared to the others, but it's important to see Himari in kind of a normal setting after the fight. Please write me a review; I will treasure it for the rest of my days, as I already do the words written to me by two lovely people: 'SheraYuki' and 'Reeses and Gaara'. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and some plotwork of this anime/manga.

Gen info: Italicized words = thoughts, bold words = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 12**

~AIZAWA~

Shota sighed heavily as the class began to clear out, noisy as usual. He stood, slipping out before the room was completely empty. The hero made his way to the teacher's room, recalling his heated argument with Himari. A part of him wanted to apologize, but a bigger part of him was still upset over the events during her internship.

 _You should have known better. Ectoplasm was a fool and so were you._

"Is something wrong, Aizawa?" He looked up to see Midnight looking at him curiously.

"No." He spat and walked towards his area of the room.

"It doesn't seem like it." She laughed teasingly.

 _What do you want, woman?_

His teeth gritted, he turned to her again. "What makes you say that?" He asked quietly.

Midnight smiled.

"You forgot your sleeping bag."

~BAKUGOU~

"Let's go shopping together, class! We'll be able to get everything we need for training camp!" Tooru suggested as they exited the classroom.

"You should come, Bakugou!" Kaminari said cheerfully.

Bakugou scoffed.

"Hell no! It's a waste of time!" He barked.

"Are you coming, Todoroki?" He heard Midoriya ask.

 _How stupid are you, Deku?! You're still talking to Half-and-half even though he kicked your ass?!_

"What about you, Himari-san?" Iida asked, slowing down slightly so he could walk with her. She was a few feet away from the other students.

The blonde turned to the girl to see her reaction, as did most of the class.

She looked at Iida and smiled.

"I have something I need to take care of. Thank you, though."

Most of the class exchanged looks of relief.

Bakugou snickered.

 _You're a shitty liar, Yellow Eyes._

He waited for the class to disperse before approaching Takahashi, but Todoroki was still close by.

Midoriya looked at him hopefully.

"Ka-"

"Go home, Deku!" He growled.

 _Why can't you take a hint, you idiot?!_

The green-haired boy sped up, followed by Todoroki, who'd finally waved goodbye to the girl.

 _Took you long enough!_

Smirking, Bakugou fell into step with Takahashi.

She glanced at him, her pupils becoming thin slits due to the sun.

 _That's disturbing._

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Short Fuse?"

He laughed, ignoring the nickname.

"I just think it's funny how popular you are, Yellow Eyes!" He commented, hoping to rile her up. "Four Eyes called you by your first name. Are you two dating?" He clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Nope. I let him call me that after I helped him fight Stain. Todoroki can call me that, too." She responded calmly. "And I'm aware that I am not liked. Why do you think I said no?"

Bakugou's eyes narrowed.

"You were involved in the fight?"

"Yes. We all were, even though no one is allowed to say so, but I figure your best friend is gonna open his big-ass mouth and tell you any day now." She scoffed.

His grip on her shoulder tightened.

 _What the hell._

"Did…. Was Deku the one that beat him?" He asked quietly, shaking with rage.

The girl looked thoughtful.

"It was more of a combination of everyone fighting him at once, but Todoroki was the one that restrained him." She chuckled darkly.

"Midoriya passed out after using too much strength in one hit, but the fight was already over anyways."

The boy's anger subsided slightly.

"Dumbass."

"You two did better than I thought you would against All Might." She commented.

"Well, it was thanks to me. I wasn't going to lose, even with Deku as a partner." He stated.

"Who'd you fight, anyways?"

"Snipe. Shoji was my partner."

"How'd you beat him? Have you trained with him already?" Bakugou asked, curious.

 _It would be impossible to get close to him without getting shot._

"I hadn't met him before, actually. I attacked from the front and Shoji snuck behind him and held him down while I put the cuffs on him." Himari explained.

"You were able to face him without holding back because you can just transfer the injury." He said, partially to himself.

"He did shoot me, but I was focused on getting the cuffs on, so I didn't transfer it." She muttered.

The boy laughed, partly relieved and partly not.

 _So she can get injured, if she's distracted. The only person who did that was a Pro so far._

"Why are you laughing? You got your ass handed to you." She snapped.

"I fought All Might, for God's sake. No one can fight him without getting hurt!" He retorted.

"Don't worry, Yellow Eyes. I'm going to get there one day."

"You should go shopping with them, Short Fuse. Uraraka will be there." The girl removed his hand from her shoulder and set off towards the bus.

"Shut the fuck up!" He demanded, his ears immediately hot, but she was already gone.

~HIMARI~

Himari ripped her shirt off as quickly as she could, feeling the bandage on her shoulder grow damper.

 _Damn it, Bakugou! You almost made me bleed through my shirt!_

She knelt by the full length mirror in her room, and gingerly removed the bloody gauze; the gash on her shoulder didn't look healed at all. The girl sighed and began cleaning the injury.

"Why can't I focus?"

Himari closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to clear her mind.

Aizawa's coldly furious expression rose to the surface. She growled, standing up and stomping to the kitchen.

"Whatever! I'm not wrong!"

After blasting Linkin Park on a set of speakers, the girl yanked open cupboards and the refrigerator doors, muttering to herself. She began chopping green onions and fishcake in time with the bass of 'One Step Closer' while muttering the lyrics to herself.

"What's up with you?" A voice suddenly interrupted her.

Himari whirled around, knife ready to strike.

"Oh." She became annoyed again.

Midnight laughed.

"My, you and Aizawa are so forgetful lately." The heroine walked into the kitchen and began adding the korean rice-cakes to the pan of simmering water.

"Forgetful?" The girl racked her brain.

 _Were we supposed to meet today?_

"You're not wearing a shirt."

She looked down, her cheeks flaming as she realized she had been cooking in her uniform skirt and bra. Himari walked to her room and swapped the rest of her uniform for a t-shirt and pajama shorts. By the time she came back, Midnight had almost finished preparing the spicy rice cakes and ramen, and had started cooking frozen potstickers. The pair continued working silently until the food was finished.

"I can see why you like Korean food so much, Himari-chan." The woman commented as they began eating.

"Speaking of, do you have any more radish?" The girl answered, dipping a potsticker in the spicy sauce of the rice-cakes.

"I told you not to eat it all at once!" The woman chastised.

"Bakugou ate it, not me!" She answered with more anger than she meant. "I'm sick of being blamed for things I didn't do!"

Midnight looked at her calmly.

"Did you and Aizawa get into an argument?" She asked.

Himari sighed.

"The thing with Stain wasn't my fault, but he refused to listen!" The girl explained. "How am I supposed to become a hero if I get yelled at for participating?!"

"And you responded rationally?" She prompted.

"I...yeah." Himari replied stubbornly.

"He was just worried about you. We all were. That injury was pretty serious, Himari-chan."

 _Not this again._

"It's not that big a deal. If it had happened to anyone else it would've been way worse." She answered quickly, feeling ashamed all over again.

"Your stitches looked alright."

Her face flushed.

"I should be able to remove them by tomorrow." She cleared her throat and began eating again.

"How's your shoulder?" Midnight inquired.

"...It's fine."

"I thought you could heal something small like that in no time."

"I… haven't been able to focus as much." Himari stabbed a rice cake with her chopsticks, hating that she'd noticed.

"Besides, it doesn't matter if it doesn't heal right away. It's not big or anything." The girl added, but the heroine gave her a look that said she didn't believe her.

Hours later, Himari lay in bed, unable to sleep. She rolled onto her shoulder, then jerked back.

"Damn it."

She thought about what Midnight had said earlier.

"I guess I could've worded some things differently. It was mostly Aizawa's fault though." She said to herself.

"I'll apologize tomorrow, get it over with."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hi! Sorry I'm uploading a day late, I was super tired yesterday and totally forgot. I think this will be the last time I upload two chapters at once; I'm very sorry but I'm starting to get quite busy with school and I don't want to go on hiatus if I can help it. Thank you 'ReesesandGaara' and 'Ana Blackstone' for reviewing! Guys, please please PLEASE LEAVE ME A REVIEW! If you guys don't like it, I won't know what to fix, and you do like it, I won't know if the direction I'm going in is appreciated! I'm BLIND right now! Readers, be my guides and help me not bump into walls or get run over! Anyways, enjoy! Or not, I WOULDN'T KNOW EITHER WAY!

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and some plotwork of this anime/manga.

Gen info: italicized words= thoughts, bold words = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 13**

~AIZAWA~

"They're almost here. We should go meet them." Pixie Bob commented as they watched Aizawa's class approach the Pussycat's base.

"Are we finally going to meet Himari? I've heard a lot about her." Mandalay sounded excited.

 _From who?_

The three adults and Kota, Mandalay's nephew stood at the entrance as the students finally gathered near them, panting and dirty.

Aizawa spotted Himari to the right of the group, a few curls loosening themselves from her hair tie. She met his eyes and flashed a grin.

He scoffed slightly, the corners of his mouth curving up a fraction despite himself.

 _Brat._

"Who's kid is this?" Midoriya asked, catching his attention.

"This is my nephew, Kota. Come say hello." Mandalay instructed the boy, who walked closer to the students.

Midoriya introduced himself and stuck out his hand to Kota, who punched him in the privates in return.

Himari laughed, and Mandalay looked at her.

"Are you Takahashi Himari?" She asked, smiling.

The girl stepped forward slowly and looked uneasily at Aizawa before she bowed.

"Yes."

As she straightened herself, the two made eye contact. Mandalay locked eyes with the girl.

"Fascinating." She said to herself.

 _Stop poking around where you don't belong._

"Alright, everyone, get your things from the bus and leave them in your rooms. Then you'll eat, bathe, and sleep. The hard part starts tomorrow." He instructed.

_ ~SHOUTO~

"Throw this again, Bakugou." Aizawa tossed a baseball at the blonde.

"GO TO HELL!" He yelled as he blasted the ball.

"709.6 meters." The man read the monitor.

 _That's not much higher than before._

"You have been through a lot these past months, and you've matured a bit, but your Quirks haven't been developing as quickly as they need to." Aizawa stated as the class sleepily listened.

Shouto looked at Himari and then away again. She was standing next to Iida, but a dark aura seemed to be emanating from the girl. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes, her pupils barely visible.

 _She must not like waking up early._

"This training will be so difficult you'll wish you were dead," the teacher smiled sadistically. "Do your best to stay alive!"

Everyone began training in different ways to improve their Quirks. He had to sit in a tub of water and attempt to create ice continuously while keeping the water at a certain temperature with his fire.

Shouto sighed.

 _This really is hell. If I'd been training with my right side earlier, this wouldn't be so difficult._

He recalled Himari's description of her first encounter with Endeavor.

 _She thinks my dad is mean, but she was raised by one of the worst villains in Japan, apparently. Unless Bishamon was nice to her, which is a possibility, of course. I mean, Himari-san's not a maniac. I never know what to expect from her, but not in a bad way._

The boy spotted the girl training with Tiger; he punched Himari so hard she skidded backwards in a cloud of dust, but the opponent did too.

 _She must be building up her transfer tolerance. She's probably fully healed since she's taking those hits._

The girl smiled and tucked a stray curl behind her ear as she prepared for another attack.

 _She's always in a good mood when she's fighting._

The water started getting a bit hotter than before; Shouto tried making a small block of ice to drop in the tub but instead a giant icicle formed, almost piercing through the wood. He took a deep breath and tried to melt it with his right hand. Flames much larger than he'd anticipated erupted on his right side; if the tub hadn't been filled with water, it would've been on fire. He frowned.

 _Why'd this get so much harder all of a sudden?_

_ ~HIMARI~

"Let's make the best stew in the world!" Iida yelled optimistically.

The class half-heartedly agreed and set to work.

Yaoyoruzu finished washing a crate of vegetables and looked around.

Himari approached her.

"I can chop those up. I'm very good with a knife." She smiled and took the crate from the girl's hands.

A few students looked up warily, but Iida interjected.

"Excellent idea, Himari-san! Everyone, bring your clean vegetables to Himari-san so she can chop them!" He said.

She smiled to herself as she began to cut up the potatoes.

 _I love your reactions, guys._

The girl decided to bring more crates to her table instead of waiting for someone to bring them, but was a bit bored. She entertained herself by watching Iida berate Ashido and Kaminari for playing around instead of helping.

 _Iida is hilarious. I don't know why people find him annoying._

She began chopping faster, obliterating the carrots under her knife and creating a large mound on the table.

 _I should've been a chef instead of a hero._

"Are you almost done?" A voice behind her suddenly said.

The girl jumped and looked at Todoroki, who had brought another crate.

 _When did you get here?!_

"Yeah. I just need to take this now." She quickly added the rest of the carrots to a large bowl.

"I can do it." The boy took the bowl from her hands and walked to one of the giant bubbling pots.

The girl had started cutting the other ingredients Todoroki had brought when he returned with the empty bowl.

"Thanks." She said without looking up, thinking that he would leave, but he didn't. Suddenly, a warm hand covered her own. Himari stopped moving but held onto the knife. She looked up at Todoroki, confused, and realized he was much closer than before. The boy stared at her seriously. The height difference between them was rather significant, giving the pair a bit more space; her back was almost touching him, and she could feel the contrasting temperatures from either side of his body.

 _?_

"... Do you need something?" The girl asked, feeling a slight flush rise to her cheeks.

"You can stop cutting the vegetables. There's more than enough." He responded after a moment.

"Ah… alright." Himari looked down at their hands. Hers was completely hidden by his.

 _His hand is warmer than I expected. I mean, he DOES make fire with it so..._

"Can I have my hand back? I won't use the knife anymore." She inquired.

Shouto removed his hand.

"Sorry." He walked away.

The girl fanned herself as she walked over to a random pot to add the last pieces she'd cut.

 _What was that about?_

 ___ ~AIZAWA~

"Aizawa Sensei, it's the third day… Is All Might… are other teachers going to come?" Midoriya asked.

"We have very little staff members in order to make it harder for villains to find us." The man answered. "All Might is most likely going to be a target, so he is definitely _not_ going to come."

 _If he were to appear, who knows what could go wrong._

Pixie Bob approached the students.

"Alright, everybody! Tonight, both classes will compete in a test of courage! Thanks to your intense work, you'll get to have some intense fun! So work as hard as you can in the meantime!"

Aizawa watched his students launch into their training without complaint.

 _You kids really have improved. It's a shame you had to do it under such circumstances, but that's part of being a hero._

_ ~SHOUTO~

"What would you tell him, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked, causing the boy to turn to him.

He'd been listening and watching Bakugou and Himari interact. They'd started a chopping competition against each other; Bakugou had gotten angry, Himari had laughed at his anger, and now the pair were waving knives at each other. Iida was frantically trying to stop them.

"It really depends." Shouto began. "Without knowing anything about him, a speech from a stranger could come off as arrogant. Words by themselves don't always have the same impact as actions; what's important is what the person who said it is doing. It's necessary to back up your words with actions."

 _You did that, Midoriya, during the festival. That's why I was able to use my right side._

"You're right. Why would he listen otherwise?" Midoriya said, almost to himself.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but you shouldn't interfere with situations such as this. You tend to do that a lot."

"Sorry." The green-haired boy apologized sheepishly.

 _Wait a second._

Shouto turned to see Himari talking to Iida, who supervised the pair as she washed dishes and Bakugou violently dried them.

He turned back to Midoriya, who was looking at the blonde with a strained expression.

 _I see now._


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I know you guys haven't been very vocal, but would you be interested in a Q and A? I noticed there was some confusion over Himari's Quirk and it could buy me some time to write more. You guys can ask whatever you want, and I'll paste your questions along with my answers. If enough people ask stuff, I can get this done but it's up to you, dear readers. You have until midnight on September 23rd Pacific time (I think? I live in the US) Let me know what you think about this!

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and some plotwork of this anime/manga.

Gen info: italicized words = thoughts, bold words = writing, new name = new POV

 **Chapter 14**

~IZUKU~

Izuku glanced at Himari as they walked through the forest.

The girl was quiet, her yellow eyes luminous against the darkness.

"Can you see in the dark?" The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

She gave him a look that made the boy feel like a complete idiot.

"Yeah, why?" She kept walking, scanning the trees for a sign of anyone lurking around them.

 _You should try to be friendly, no matter what. You messed up last time._

Clearing his throat, he tried to engage in conversation.

"That means you have an advantage here. It'll be impossible for the others to scare you." He muttered.

"Regardless, I doubt they'd try anything." She said shortly.

 _That's true._

Suddenly the girl stopped, tense.

"What's that burning smell?"

A cloud of dark smoke rose from the trees far from them.

Himari looked up as a shadow passed over them, blocking out the moonlight.

 _What was that?_

The pair raced towards the entrance of the forest as two villains approached Mandalay, and Tiger. Pixie Bob was on the ground, unconscious.

"Pixie Bob!" Midoriya started towards them but Himari grabbed his arm, yanking him back into the covers of the trees.

"Don't get involved. There are two Pros, they've got it." She muttered quietly as they crouched behind a bush.

"They might need help!" He argued.

 _Don't hold me back!_

' _We're fine! Get away and find Kota!'_ He heard Mandalay relay in his head, and turned to see her in a fighting stance along with Tiger.

' _I know where he is!'_

Midoriya aimed his thoughts at her, hoping she could hear him.

"I'm going to find Kota! No one else knows where he is and he could be in danger."

"I'll see if I can find the source of the fire. You're fine on your own, right?" Himari responded, eyes looking behind the boy.

"Yeah."

They took off in opposite directions.

Midoriya willed his legs to carry him as fast as they could.

 _I'm coming, Kota!_

~HIMARI~

 _I know you don't want me going with you, kid. You afraid I'm gonna steal your thunder?_

Himari scoffed to herself as she made her way through the forest. Ever since she and Midoriya had parted ways, her surroundings had become incredibly quiet.

 _They'll leave as soon as they see All Might's not here, right?_

The girl shook her head at her own naive thoughts.

 _It's probably my fault. Should I give myself up so they can leave the others alone? God, I sound like Midoriya. That never really works for the good guys, anyways._

A scream pierced the air and brought her out of her thoughts.

 _That sounded feminine, could be one of the girls._

Her eyes scanned the trees in front of her and she spotted the group well before she'd reached them.

 _Tsuyu. Ochako. Blonde girl with a knife._

She sped up as the villain dashed towards Ochako.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._

Ochako's arm was cut, and Asui was pinned to a tree by some sort of device that came off the blonde's backpack. She and Ochako seemed to be in a standstill at the moment.

 _What are you doing?!_

The villain turned to see Himari as she ran towards her. Laughing, she swung her knife at the girl, who barely dodged it.

"Not very smart of you, Takahashi Himari." She said gleefully, while launching quick attacks with her blade. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes looked half-closed, as if she were in a dreamy state of mind.

 _If she weren't so fast, I'd think she was drunk._

"You and me are going to be great friends, just like Ochako and Asui." She sighed happily.

Himari responded by grabbing the arm with the knife and punching the villain in the abdomen with her opposite hand. She fell onto her knees.

"How's your arm, Ochako?"

The brunette looked away from her.

"It's fine." She answered shortly.

 _I guess our plan worked a little too well, Short Fuse._

"Let's all go back to camp, guys. It's safer there." Asui exclaimed from her position in the tree.

 _I should free her first._

"Don't abandon me, friends." The blonde suddenly lunged at Himari.

The girl stopped the knife from entering her face by taking hold of the blade.

"Hey, that's not fair!" The villain pouted as blood ran down her own hand.

"Blood is so lovely, but I want to see yours."

Ochako grabbed her other arm and restrained her, while Himari removed the knife from her grasp.

"Ochako, you're so pretty." The girl purred, even though she was being held down forcibly.

 _God, this girl is weird._

"You smell just like me." She continued, looking up at the brunette.

"You've got a crush on someone, I can te- aaghh"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Himari interrupted, stepping on the blonde's hand that was loosening a giant syringe from her back.

 _You're welcome._

She stepped on the syringe with her other foot, causing it to shatter.

"We need something to res-"

A rustling of leaves caused the girl to whip her head to the left.

 _Oh, it's them._

The rustling suddenly became much louder as the trees around the newcomers shook violently. The sky became pitch black as the moon's pale light was enveloped in darkness.

"YOU!" A deep voice roared as black claws extended themselves towards the group.

 _Fuck._


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hello again, sorry I'm late! I had some exams to prepare for but hopefully the hell that is university will stop trying to kill me so quickly; I wasn't going to post a chapter today because, frankly, I don't have much written and I feel like I made a mistake in writing and releasing two chapters at once. I also realized posted two chapters in one week instead of two like I normally do -_- I'm just posting this chapter today; it's a bit short but a lot happens very quickly. I shouldn't have suggested the Q and A, it's too soon and I haven't even seen any other writers do it so why did I want to? Anyways, since I made a mistake and am quite busy right now, I will post a new chapter in three weeks instead of two. I was also thinking of doing a little side story from Himari's childhood, it would only be one chapter and then I would go back; I know there are a lot of unanswered questions about her still. Would you guys want that? Let me know. As always, thank you to the wonderful readers who left a review, reading those always makes me happy:) I'm sorry about the wait; I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and some plotwork of this anime/manga

Gen info: _italicized = thoughts_ , **bold = writing** , new name = ~new POV~

 **Chapter 15**

~MIDORIYA~

In a second, Dark Shadow had overtaken Tokoyami once more and snatched up Takahashi from the ground, lifting her high into the sky in one claw.

"YOU SEE HOW POWERFUL YOU COULD HAVE BEEN?! IT'S TOO BAD YOU MUST DIE NOW." He said furiously.

The girl Ochako was holding down ran away, freeing Asui and dropping her onto the ground.

Midoriya was frozen, shocked by the sudden turn of events and possibly the pain that was kicking in none too gently.

 _Why her?_

"Ochako, take care of him!" Todoroki demanded, releasing the unconscious boy he'd been carrying.

The brunette rushed forward and caught the boy clumsily.

Todoroki ran towards Dark Shadow, releasing flames at it's head. The shadow roared again, causing several trees to be lifted from their roots. He swiped at the boy with one hand, but still held Takahashi in the other; the girl was hardly visible, her head barely peeking out from his fist. Todoroki stood in front of him, raising his fiery wall higher and higher. Dark Shadow threw the girl, sending her flying far over the treetops behind the group, before slowly shrinking back. Tokoyami dropped to his knees, panting and covered in sweat.

 _Why did that take longer than before?_

Midoriya scanned the area around him from his perch on Shoji's back. His heart pounded in his chest as he came to a sudden realization.

"Where's Kacchan?" He yelled.

" **I took him**." A voice answered from behind him.

Shoji and the others turned towards the trees that hadn't been mangled by Dark Shadow.

A man in a mask, trench coat, and top hat was perched in a tree, holding two small spheres in a gloved hand. His mask depicted a grin, which only angered Midoriya further.

 _NO! KACCHAN!_

"GIVE HIM BACK!" He bawled, trembling with fury.

 _HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN?!_

The man chuckled.

"I don't think so." He replied easily.

Todoroki ran in the direction of the new villain, but appeared to be looking into the trees.

"Don't worry, I've got Takahashi, too. You practically sent her right into my hands, so thank you for that, Tokoyami! Excellent work!" He crowed gleefully.

The boy suddenly encased the tree in ice faster than Midoriya had seen before but the man had gracefully risen from the branches and was floating high above them. The ice rose higher, uneven spikes growing and enveloping several trees in jagged, white blankets.

"Unfortunately, bluffing and running for it are my only talents, so I must leave you now!" The man's cape fluttered in the wind as he skirted the trees and fled.

 _I've got to think of a plan! I'll save Kacchan!_

Midoriya glanced at the others.

"Guys, we can-"

He was interrupted by a freezing blast of air as Todoroki launched himself upwards.

"Todoroki, wait!"

~SHOUTO~

Shouto willed himself to go higher into the night sky, trying to catch up to the villain.

 _Just a little closer._

The boy stretched his arm as far as he could, feeling the fabric of the man's trench coat flit beneath his fingertips.

The man turned, surprised to see him.

"You're good at going up," He observed. "But I can't give these away." He held up the two spheres.

Concentrating, Shouto sent flames towards the villain's hand.

Yelping, the masked man yanked his hand back, one of the spheres slipping out of his gloved fingers.

Shouto dove several feet to catch it, only for the ball to burst in a cloud of smoke as soon as he did.

 _It's a fake?!_

"Oops. I guess your friend wasn't in there!" The man said joyfully, now much farther away from the boy. In a few seconds, he was hurtling towards the ground at an alarming rate.

The boy followed suit, melting the ice he was using to climb, and began falling wildly through the air. His hair and clothes flapped violently as he dropped like a stone in a pond. Shouto used ice to catch himself as the forest floor became closer, but the hard surface knocked the wind out of him. He stood painfully but noticed the group of people gathered several feet away from him. The boy ran towards the dark mass that he recognized as Kurogiri from before, but it disappeared, having taken the rest of the villains before he could reach them.

"No!" Shouto gasped, still out of breath. He stared at the place where the group once was, which was now empty and silent. The trees were still; no wind rustling through the leaves, and no moonlight filtering through. The boy's vision grew dark as the silence became deafening in his ears.

 _I was too late._


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Hi everyone; I know it's been a bit longer than I normally said I would update, but I'm finally back! This chapter will introduce a new character that I think we'll be seeing more of in the future. Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoy!

P.S. I noticed I had a guest review and I will respond to them here since they don't have an account. Dear guest, I've never considered my work to be the epitome of anything, so thank you for saying that :) You had a lot of criticisms concerning pretty much everything about this story; if I am to take your review seriously you need to tell me exactly what it is that's wrong with it. I don't think my writing is nearly as bad as you think, so I need some evidence before I take you seriously. I also don't think you read past the first chapter, so maybe read some more before you come to such an extreme conclusion? Anyways, I hope you enjoy your weekend!

P.P.S. If anyone has any issues with my writing, please let me know; I accept both positive and negative feedback, and I won't ignore what you have to say :)

Disclaimer: I only own my OC, not BNHA

Gen info: _Italicized = thoughts_ , **bold = writing,** new name = new P.O.V.

 **Chapter 15**

~ALL MIGHT~

All Might rubbed his temples as he listened to his colleagues arguing.

"The press is going insane at the fact that Bakugou was taken, probably due to his violent behavior during the sports festival. If they think he's capable of switching sides, I'd hate to think what they'd say about Himari." Principal Nezu expressed.

"I still don't know how Tomura knew about her. Only a few people ever even saw… her father and Nakamura died years ago." Midnight said, emotionless.

 _I can tell you're worried even though you're putting up a front._

He clenched his fists.

"I just can't believe I was so useless when my students were out there, fighting for their lives."

"Don't blame yourself." Nezu said cheerfully. "Anyways, the safety of our remaining students is our top priority. There's something I've been thinking about for a while-"

He was interrupted by All Might's ringtone. The Symbol of Peace stood up and excused himself sheepishly.

"What's going on, Tsukauchi?" He demanded, listening raptly to the officer's voice. His eyes widened at the news, and he felt himself transforming into his stronger self. The man gripped his phone, full of determination.

 _Don't worry, Young Bakugou and Takahashi. I WILL get you back._

~DABI~

Dabi leaned back in his chair, yawning. He eyed his sleeping guest lazily.

 _This is boring._

He allowed tiny blue flames to form in his palm, then closed his fingers over it and extinguished it. The villain repeated this exercise several times, allowing the fire to spread a bit further down his arm each time.

Suddenly, he heard movement from the other side of the room. A dolly leaned against the wall, to which a girl was secured at her neck, chest and legs.

The man stood slowly and approached her.

The girl sighed as she raised her head. Her messy hair covered part of her face, and was full of twigs and leaves.

Dabi chuckled to himself as he recalled Mr. Compress' victorious story.

 _He really wasn't exaggerating when he said she was thrown into the trees._

At the noise, her head snapped to him; her eyes met his and her pupils immediately shrank.

 _Gross._

He had never been fond of animals. Dabi brushed off the temporary disgust and addressed the girl.

"The great Bishamon's daughter is finally awake." He stared down at the teenager. "The way Tomura talked about you I expected more, but I'm really disappointed, Himari Takahashi."

She observed him silently.

 _Damn, why weren't you blindfolded?_

He forced himself to lean in closer to her despite his discomfort.

"Shouto Todoroki tried very hard to save you and the other kid. An admirable attempt, yet he failed miserably."

At this, her pupils dilated slightly.

 _Uggh why?_

"Who else…" The girl asked emotionlessly.

Dabi grinned.

"Why, Bakugou, of course. Tomura thinks he'd be a good addition to our 'team'."

Himari's looked past him, towards the door.

"Your boss is in for a rude awakening if he thinks Sh- Bakugou is going to join you."

He rolled his eyes.

"Why do you think both of you are in such comfortable positions?"

Himari made a bored face.

"I understand him being tied up, but why me? I won't do anything. I'm not stupid."

"Personally, I wouldn't even want you here in the first place. You've been among the so-called heroes too long."

She laughed.

"You sound like Stain."

"His ideals were what drew me to working with these idiots." He ran a hand through his hair. "Your little _friends_ unfortunately put an end to that."

"My friends?" She said incredulously. "I was the one who actually stopped him from dying. I'd show you my stitches myself if I felt like it."

Dabi hid his surprise.

"You were involved too?"

Himari smirked.

"Your teammates must be shitty at their jobs if they were supposed to be tracking me. Or maybe they don't trust you enough to tell you these things." She said quietly, watching him.

 _Apparently the Pros didn't do such a good job taking the villain out of you._

"Oh, you're awake!" He heard a voice behind him and sighed.

Toga skipped inside and headed straight towards the pair, knife in hand. "It was so boring waiting to come get you. Now that you're here we can have some fun, Himari!"

She brought her knife towards the girl's face but leaped back when Dabi aimed fire at her.

"Don't touch her, you idiot. You already know what happens." He muttered, immediately irritated by her presence.

Toga giggled and held up a bandaged hand. "I know. I forgive you, Himari, because we're going to be friends."

Himari scoffed in response.

Dabi turned towards the door. "We should ta-" He was cut off by the sound of the dolly banging into the wall.

Toga had plunged her knife into Himari's shoulder. Blood was pouring down her own arm, staining her cardigan bright red.

"There should be a limit to how much you can handle." The blonde girl smiled, twisting the blade continuously. "I just want you to bleed a little!"

The dolly crashed onto the floor, yanking the knife out of Himari. The girl's head connected with the ground but Toga cried out in pain.

Himari laughed.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to hurt me."

 _Tomura's going to be pissed._

He quickly lifted the dolly and inspected the straps, making sure they were still secure.

Himari's shirt was ripped at the shoulder and sleeve, exposing scarred but intact skin.

Dabi stared at the scar, frowning slightly.

A line circled completely around her shoulder like a shirt strap; it was brighter and thicker in some places and significantly faded in others, resembling an uneven perforated edge.

 _That's weird. How'd that happen?_

Himari's voice surprised him; he hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud.

"How did yours?"

Dabi looked at her; she wasn't smiling anymore. The man paused for a moment before scoffing. He stood behind the dolly and wheeled the girl out the door; Toga followed them, gripping her shoulder.

As they made their way to the bar, the three could hear Bakugou's furious voice shouting obscenities.

 _Great. He's awake too._

He deposited Himari a few feet away from Bakugou, who was also strapped tightly. Mr. Compress, Twice, and the rest of the 'league' surrounded the pair.

The boy's eyes widened at her rumpled appearance.

"You alright, Takahashi? These losers didn't hurt you, right?" He growled.

 _What a cocky brat._

"I'm fine." She answered evenly, but Dabi noticed she'd become very rigid and almost looked like she was holding her breath.

Shigaraki immediately started laughing like a complete lunatic. The others turned to him, slightly wary.

 _What's up with this freak?_

"T-Takahashi Himari," He wheezed, approaching her. "The Pros gave you that name, didn't they?"

 _No shit, Sherlock. Bishamon's last name is Maki._

Dabi rolled his eyes, standing a few feet behind the man.

Himari made no indication of having her heard him; she trained her eyes on something past the villain.

"Himari: 'home of light and love.' It can also mean 'ball of light.'" Shigaraki mused. "Of course they would give you a name like that. And Takahashi is a common last name, so you could 'blend in.'" He started laughing again. "They can try and change you all they want, but you can never get rid of your true identity."

He reached towards her face, causing the blonde teen to pull against his restraints viciously and curse at him. Shigaraki paused, his hand centimeters away from Himari's cheek.

She was still looking past him, her whole body incredibly still.

 _I don't think your scare tactics are working._

"Don't worry, Bakugou, I wouldn't hurt an ally. Isn't that right, _Tsuru_?"

At this, Himari finally looked at him, her face finally displaying some emotion.

 _Tsuru… Tool?_  
Someone laid a hand heavily on his shoulder; he shrugged it off, turning partially. Mr. Compress was shaking his head, looking off-balance.

"I thi-" He fell face- forward, his mask making a cracking noise when it hit the ground.

 _What the hell?!_

Dabi whipped around, looking for any sign of an intruder, but stopped at the sound of Himari's voice.

"Never call me that again." She said slowly, locking eyes with Shigaraki.

 _Did you do that? How?!_

Himari scoffed. "Who's idea was it to kidnap the people you want to work with you? Can you not afford to meet us at a cafe at least? And where's my bribe? Did you think all you had to do was get me here and we could all hold hands and skip into the fucking sunset?"

Dabi coughed to hide his slight laughter at that last part.

"Join us and you could be more powerful than you ever imagined. You and Bakugou could be unstoppable."

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Is that the best you've got? I don't know if you noticed, but I just knocked out two of your guys and I'm not even moving."

 _Two?_

A second later, Toga crumpled to the ground, her clothes bloodier than ever.

 _Oh, I'd forgotten about her._

"And you think throwing Bakugou into the mix is going to sweeten the deal? I can barely stand going to school with this idiot, much less having to work _and_ live with him."

"Hey! You're the idiot, Takahashi! Just wait until I get out of this!" Bakugou yelled furiously.

Shigaraki was still smiling, however.

"Really? I've got something else that I think you won't refuse." He turned to Dabi.

"This way."

The man sighed and grabbed Himari's dolly, wheeling it out of the bar.

"Where are you taking her?! Come back!" Bakugou bellowed.

Shigaraki lead them into a room Dabi hadn't even seen before.

' _Maybe they don't trust you enough to tell you these things.'_

He frowned slightly, looking around the room. It was very dimly lit, small, and rather empty, save for a small table near the wall and a dingy mattress. Someone was sitting on it.

 _Who's that?_

"Guess who I finally brought." Shigaraki called out to the figure.

It stood up quickly and approached them; Dabi saw it was a tall, slim woman, with disheveled, dark hair and large brown eyes. She wore a loose, dirty dress that barely covered her knees and was barefoot.

 _What the hell is going on?!_

She and Himari stared at each other; recognition in her eyes, the girl sucked in a breath.

The woman stroked her face gently, and Dabi looked away, forcing his mind to block out old memories stirred up by the action.

"Untie her." The woman whispered fiercely.

Dabi busied himself with the straps. Once again, Himari was stiff, her eyes not looking away from the woman. Her pupils were growing and shrinking rapidly.

 _For once, Shigaraki is doing things right. Now she has to stay here._

Once he'd freed her entirely, the girl stepped off of the dolly slowly. The woman immediately wrapped her in an embrace, breathing shakily.

Shigaraki began walking away from them; Dabi followed quickly, not wanting to be near them any longer than he had to.

 _Nice fucking reunion_ _._


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Hi guys! It's been almost a month since I've last updated :( I'm very sorry about that, I've just been super busy with college and life in general. Once I start my winter break I'll probably start uploading more regularly again! Thank you for being by my side for this long!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own BNHA, I only own my OCs

General info: _Italicized = thoughts_ , **bold = writing** , new name = new POV

 **Chapter 17**

~HIMARI~

 _What is happening right now?!_

She felt arms envelope her in a hug, heard nervous breathing in her ear. Himari willed herself to pull away from the woman and held her at arm's length.

"I… are you… is it really you?" She whispered.

 _This could be an illusion from one of the villains. But she feels real._

Himari stared at her, taking in the painfully thin face and large, almost protruding eyes.

 _It's a bit difficult to remember what she looks like, but I recognize her voice._

"Of course it is." The woman stroked her hair, removing a stray twig. Her voice sounded so comforting Himari's eyes welled up. She blinked rapidly, trying to force her pounding heart to slow down.

"How did they find you? Are you hurt?" She inspected her arms but they bore no injuries.

"I'm fine." The woman gave her a small smile and Himari looked away quickly, trying to concentrate on not falling apart.

 _Nope. This is too much emotional baggage. Let's get out of here first and deal with that later._

She looked towards the doorway, trying to form a plan.

"Is there a back door somewhere? I'm sure they're far enough away that we could leave unnoticed, but how do we get to Bakugou?"

Himari patted the waistband of her jeans.

"I've still got my phone, we can contact the-"

She stopped when her mother placed a hand over hers.

"We're not leaving, it's safe here."

The girl's eyes widened.

"Did you not see how I was tied up? These guys attacked my classmates to kidnap me and my friend." As she spoke, she remembered Toga's encounter with Ochako and Asui. "Shit, how is everyone else doing? I don't even know how long I've been here." She spoke mostly to herself.

"You don't have to worry about them anymore. You're where you belong now."

Himari's eyes fixed on the woman in front of her.

"Are you… serious right now? Why would you want to stay here, with them? Bi- he… he was terrible. We could get away, live normal lives." She said softly, watching her mother's reaction.

The woman retracted her hand, still smiling. "No, I can't."

"But-" Himari felt fear clawing at her chest.

 _Did they do something to you?_

"When- your father- abandoned me, I was helped by Shigaraki Tomura. As you can tell, I was not offered the same refuge you were when you were picked up by the Pros." Something crept into her voice.

"You… disappeared before he was found. " The girl said slowly, thinking. "What happened to you?"

"It occurred when you were about five years old. Your Quirk had developed and your father was quite happy that you were able to help so much, especially since I was no good at healing people other than myself. With you, he could patch himself up instantly."

She gripped Himari's scarred shoulder tightly, almost painfully.

"There were also times when he couldn't get you to transfer an injury because you'd see my reaction, so he didn't like that. He decided that you would be better off without me holding you back." The woman chuckled darkly before glancing up at her daughter.

"Everything that happened, all of my suffering was your fault. _Tsuru_."

MIDORIYA~

"HOLD ON!"

Midoriya turned, startled to see Ida approaching them angrily.

Earlier, the boy had disagreed with him and the others who wanted to rescue Bakugou and Takahashi, along with the rest of the class. Midoriya was surprised that Yaoyorozu had agreed to help, but was even more so to see Ochako join in as well. From what he knew, she was not close to either of their kidnapped classmates. He was not surprised to hear Todoroki orchestrating the mission, but became wary of his classmate's behavior; the son of Endeavor had recently become incredibly sullen, distancing himself from the others even more than before.

Iida stood in front of the four of them, seething.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO!" He glared at Midoriya and Todoroki. "After everything that happened with Stain, how much trouble we got into, you're still going through with this? You were the ones that berated me and now you're going to do the same thing? Don't you realize how foolish you're being?!"

"What are you talking about?" Ochako inquired nervously.

"U.A.'s having a hard enough time protecting us; who do you think is going to take responsibility for your insane actions?!"

"Iida, it won't be like last time. We won't break any laws-"

Iida's fist collided with Midoriya's cheek, almost knocking him off his feet.

"Don't you think I want to help them?! Himari-san saved us back then, how could I not worry about her and Bakugou?! But they're not the only ones I'm scared for. Watching you earlier, Midoriya, reminded me of my brother! I heard what the doctor told you!"

He gripped the shorter boy's shoulders, shaking.

"What are you going to do when things go too far? How can you be a hero without the use of your arms? Are you really that selfish, willing to destroy yourself without caring about anyone around you?"

Midoriya's stomach churned uncomfortably.

"I…"

"Iida." Todoroki spoke loudly and emotionlessly.

"We're going to get Bakugou and Himari-san back, but that doesn't mean we're going to attack the League."

"Hopefully they won't even know we were there at all. This way we don't break any laws." Ochako added, smiling tentatively at Iida.

"However, if something does happen, I'll be there as backup." Yaoyorozu stated, tense.

Midoriya looked at him, feeling encouraged by the others.

"I need to save him." He expressed, determined.

Iida sighed heavily.

"I can see nothing is going to stop you from doing this anyways. I guess I'll just have to join you! If I think even for a second that things are getting out of hand, I'm pulling us out of there, no matter what."

He fixed Midoriya with a hard look.

The boy smiled, feeling more hopeful than he had in the last few days.

 _I'm coming, Bakugou._

~SHOUTO~

Shouto stared out the window of the train, not really seeing his surroundings whirl by. A memory from earlier that day played in his mind.

 _He and almost all of class 1A slipped into Midoriya's room. The boy had barely regained consciousness; Shouto addressed the rescue mission almost immediately, eager to get started._

" _I have to save Bakugou." Midoriya agreed._

" _And Himari-san." Shouto added, scanning the hospital room. He felt uneasy no matter where he went or what he did the past few days._

 _His senses were also on high alert, so much so that he heard someone behind him mumble, "Should you even try to save_ her _?"_

 _He whirled around immediately, startling Ochako and Iida, who were closest to him._

" _Who said that?" The boy demanded, glaring at the class._

" _Todoroki," Midoriya said quietly. "Maybe they're right, but in a different sense." He added the last part hastily after seeing the boy's expression._

" _She-"_

" _You're only concerned about Bakugou, I know. Don't try to explain anything to me. It's funny that you guys are actually more concerned over someone who insults and tries to fight with you daily, yet you're terrified of someone who hasn't done anything wrong.I thought being a Hero meant helping someone who needed it, no matter what."_

' _Especially you, Midoriya.'_

 _Shouto turned to leave, angrier than he'd been in a while. Any little thing seemed to set him off these days._

' _I'm going after them whether you come with me or not.'_

" _Hold on, Todoroki." Tokoyami spoke up this time. "I can't speak for everyone, but I know Takahashi is a good person." The boy lowered his head, ashamed. "I'm so sorry, I placed her right in the villains' hands."_

" _I agree, not with the villain part, Tokoyami." Yaoyorozu said hurriedly. She had a bandage on her forehead, but otherwise appeared fine. "Takahashi can be a bit- intimidating- but she wouldn't just switch sides on us. That's why I've… decided to help you."_

 _Shouto's mood lifted slightly. He nodded at the two of them._

" _I- I want to help too." Ochako mumbled._

 _Everyone turned to her in surprise._

" _There's a lot more to Bakugou than that and he's probably in more danger than T- Takahashi is! He won't be able to stop himself from saying something or trying to fight back and I'm sure they won't respond well!"_

 _The girl shot Todoroki a look, even though her face was growing redder by the second._

 _He scoffed in response._

The boy clenched his fists as the train came to a stop. He stood and followed his classmates into the city.

~BAKUGOU~

Bakugou glared at his captors as they returned without his classmate. His eyes scanned the dark hallway they'd emerged from, but saw nothing.

"What did you to to Takahashi?" He growled, growing more infuriated when the dark-haired man called Dabi grinned in response.

"Well, Bakugou, we made 'Takahashi' an offer she simply couldn't refuse." Shigaraki's voice dripped with sarcasm when he spoke her name.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, forcing the slowly increasing fear down the pit of his stomach.

 _What did this son of a bitch do? She can't be dead, right?_

"The only question that remains now is 'what will you do?' Dabi, untie him." The man instructed.

"No way. Twice, untie him."

Bakugou couldn't even scoff in response. He kept his mouth firmly shut, focusing on his surroundings.

"We want you feel like an equal to us, which is what you are, Bakugou." He gestured towards the TV a few feet above them.

A news reporter depicted him as 'unstable, bloodthirsty, and quite likely to become a villain.' There was no mention of another missing student.

"Listen to how they're talking about you." Shigaraki continued softly as Twice worked on freeing him from the dolly.

"They're judging you because they have a set idea of what a hero is, and you don't match that idea. You'll never become a hero by being who you are right now. You might as well join us. Bakugou, you're much stronger than any of your stupid classmates. Even Tsuru. You know," the man leaned towards him as if he were sharing a secret.

"She's too much of a flight risk to join us in any important work. We'll probably keep her somewhere safe to serve as a cure all. You've seen her Quirk in action, but did you know she can also take in someone's wounds and leave them perfectly healed? Maybe we should have a demonstration for y-"

He was interrupted by a loud crash that came from the hallway. Shigaraki smirked.

"Sounds like little 'Himari' is misbehaving." He turned his back to the sound but Dabi glanced towards it.

Bakugou examined the room, now fully free. Out of seven villains, only four were conscious and one was distracted.

 _I don't think I'm going to get another chance like this. Takahashi, you better be kicking some villain's ass right now!_

"Anyway-"

The blonde let off an explosion directly in Shigaraki's face. The hand on the man's face flew off and landed several feet away; one of the villains ducked to avoid it.

"God damn, for being a villain you talk way too much. I almost thought I was back in class for a second." He said loudly, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

The TV now showed Aizawa Sensei and Principal Nezu defending him. Bakugou grinned.

 _Thanks for not letting me down, U.A.!_

"You idiots couldn't have planned this worse if you tried. Since you admire me so much, why don't I show you exactly how strong I am by kicking your asses?!" He grinned like a maniac.

"You're the idiot. You could have pretended to join us, then attacked. Now you don't even have the element of surprise." Dabi's focus returned to him, but the man looked uninterested in fighting.

Meanwhile, Shigaraki stared down at the hand that was once attached to his face. Slowly, he picked it up and placed it there once again.

"No one touch the child. He is important to our mission." He said quietly.

Bakugou watched him for any sudden movements.

 _What is he talking about?_

The man raised his head as though he were speaking to the ceiling.

"Master, lend me your strength."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Hey everyone! I know I said I was going to start updating regularly again but it just didn't happen this month; I'm sorry! This chapter is a bit short but I had to cut it off here before getting to the more exciting part, which I will hopefully upload soon! Thanks as always for the reviews and follows, and I hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 18**

~HIMARI~

Himari felt the breathe whoosh out of her as she made contact with the wall and thudded to the ground. Before she could recover, something slid around her torso, lifting her high into the air.

"It's only fair, right, Tsuru?" Her mother's voice called out to her.

 _No, that's not my mom. Not anymore._

The woman no longer looked like her mother; her body had stretched grotesquely and long, black tentacles had sprouted from her sides. Her eyes enlarged even more and became bloodshot, and her brain was visible, uncovered by her dark hair.

 _A Nomu._

The woman's laughter became distorted as her jaw widened unnaturally, and she threw Himari across the room again.

This time, the girl crashed into the wooden table and broke it. She lay there, numb to the damage her body was taking. She didn't put a fight or even think about activating her Quirk as her mother's words rang in her head over and over again.

 _Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault._

She was lifted once more, this time by her ankle. The girl raised a hand towards her face as the ceiling light nearly blinded her, only to discover a shard of wood from the table had pierced through her palm. She tentatively shook her hand in a vain attempt to remove it. In doing so, she accidentally managed to poke her opponent's eye with the shard.

The Nomu let out an inhuman screech and squeezed her leg.

Himari heard a crunching sound, and she was dropped onto the remains of the table. She turned her head slightly and caught sight of the creature that was once her mother now roaring in pain, its tentacles thrashing wildly. For some reason, she found the image funny.

 _Well, this whole situation is a bit funny, isn't it? I used to live with heroes and now the villains want me on their side. I'd always wanted to see my mother again and now that I have, I wish I hadn't._

A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled out of her.

The Nomu whipped it's head in her direction once more.

She contemplated over what to do as it approached slowly, panting.

 _You know, it wouldn't be so bad dying by my own mother's hand. It'd be better than being killed by that creep, and she at least loved me for a few years. This would be a selfish thing to do, though. Taking the easy way out just because I can. It wouldn't mean anything either. Shigaraki isn't going to stop being a villain, and All Might isn't going to stop being a hero. No dramatic turn of events over this. I think he'd be sad, though. Onee-chan too, and Aizawa Sensei._

A faint explosion reached her ears as her mother crouched over her, jaws open wide.

 _I wonder what Short Fuse is doing._

~ALL MIGHT~

"I still don't get why I have to be here." Endeavor crossed his arms, annoyed. He turned partially towards All Might's direction.

"All Might, haven't you considered the possibility that your little brat is joining the league?"

Before the Symbol of Peace could answer, Best Jeanist did.

"Bakugou is incredibly strong-willed. There's absolutely no way he'll change his mind about becoming a hero." The man answered.

Endeavor frowned.

"Who? I'm talking about the girl. _Bishamon's daughter_. She tried to kill me when we rescued her!"

Best Jeanist laughed.

"She was a child. She couldn't have done anything. How is she coming along, by the way?"

A few people looked at All Might interestedly.

The number one Hero continued smiling, but his tone was a warning for anyone else who dared to speak about the girl.

"Young Takahashi is not a villain! Do not speak of her like she's some sort of animal in training. Both she and Bakugou need us now; let's show them what being a Hero is about."

The large number of Pros along with police officers began to surround the building the villains were using as a hideout.

All Might struggled to control his anger as they got closer and closer.

 _Hold on a bit, kids. We'll get you out soon!_

~SHOUTO~

Shouto and the others squeezed themselves into the tight alleyway behind the lair.

Iida lifted Ochako onto his shoulders while he lifted Midoriya on his.

Ochako lifted a pair of binoculars to her face and gasped.

"What is it? Do you see them?" Shouto asked urgently.

"There's… so many of them." She whispered.

Shouto felt his hopes start to sink.

"So many what? Villains?" Yaoyorozu asked quietly.

"They're just sitting there, waiting to be used…" Midoriya looked through the binoculars after her.

"They're all Nomu."

 _Just what we needed._

Suddenly the ground below them started to shake. Midoriya almost fell off his shoulders as a gust of wind forced them backwards.

The building in front of them was being trampled to pieces.

The boy's heart quickened.

 _The Pros are here!_

~BAKUGOU~

"You have a 'Master'?" Bakugou scoffed, trying to hold onto the adrenaline rush he'd received from attacking Shigaraki. "I thought you were the top dog around here!"

 _If there's someone here stronger than you, that's bad news for me._

The man lowered his head and looked at the blonde.

"I've had enough of you. Kurogiri, Com-" He paused for a moment, looking down at the man sprawled across the floor. "Anyone, restrain him. It's actually impressive… to see how unwilling he is to listen to reason." He finished flatly.

Bakugou bristled, his eyes quickly scanning his surroundings.

 _I have a better chance of escaping now, but that warp guy is going to be trouble. I need to attack quickly and get out through this back door._

"You want me to listen to _you_? Fuck off and go to hell!" He yelled before being interrupted by a knocking sound behind him. He turned slightly toward the door, tense.

"Kamino pizza delivery." A slightly muffled voice called out.

Bakugou's eyes widened before the wall to the left of him burst into a million pieces.

Brick flew towards the villains as All Might leapt inside, followed by Kamui Woods. The latter immediately spread his branch-like arms and wrapped them around the others.

A tiny old man bounced around the room, knocking out various men who were struggling against Woods' hold.

A door opened and Edge Shot walked in, followed by policemen, informing the room's inhabitants that more heroes had surrounded the building.

All Might smiled at Bakugou, who felt like collapsing with relief.

"I'm sorry we took so long, but you're alright now, kid! It must've been hard… Nice work holding on!" The hero scanned the room quickly.

"Di- Difficult? Yeah right! I was just about to attack!" The blonde's voice trembled slightly as he answered.

"Well," Shigaraki spoke up for the first time, drawing the others attention. "After everything we've done, the last boss shows up right on our doorstep." He said calmly. "I suppose it's time to introduce the rest of the league!" He bellowed.

Bakugou stiffened, waiting for a new attack from _anywhere._

 _Is he bluffing? If there were more people here, they would've restrained me again._

He glanced at the hallway his classmate disappeared into.

 _There has to be someone in there besides Takahashi though._

A beat of silence filled the room; no new movement occurred.

"I apologize, Tomura Shigaraki, but the nomu we prepared… They're… gone!"

All Might placed a hand on Bakugou's shoulder.

"It seems like you've got a lot to learn, Shigaraki. You've taken a lot of things for granted, including this boy's unbreakable will."

The blonde could feel the Pro's anger radiating off him in waves. "It ends now."

The remaining villains who were conscious looked scared, but Shigaraki remained passive despite the circumstances.

"'Ends here', does it? Don't be foolish, this is just the beginning." He raised his head slowly, looking towards the bar.

"Kurogi-" He stopped short as something miniscule shot towards the warp-using villain.

The man groaned quietly before slumping over.

Bakugou's eyes widened.

 _What the hell was that?! Is he… dead?_

Something small and threadlike exited the villains side and the boy followed it back to Edgeshot, realizing that it was a part of his body that had been made incredibly thin due to his Quirk.

The old man addressed the villains again, advising them to keep still.

Meanwhile, Shigaraki mumbled quietly to himself, reminding him of Midoriya.

Bakugou scoffed as he felt his eyes begin to water unexpectedly at the thought of the boy.

 _Stupid Deku…_

His lips curled into something that was not really a frown as he imagined his other classmates, especially a certain brunette with bright eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by the increased pressure he felt on his shoulder due to All Might.

"Young Bakugou, where is Takahashi?" The Pro's voice was slightly alarmed.

"That blue-haired freak too-"

At that moment, time seemed to slow down altogether. The blonde watched as a thick, black substance appeared all around them, like ink stains on paper. The stains appeared to move on their own, tendrils spreading out as creatures with protruding bones and exposed brains burst forth.

 _Nomu!_

In seconds, the air was thick with the monsters, their screeches filling his ears. He didn't get to marvel for long, as he suddenly felt something rising in his throat; the sensation was incredibly unpleasant, like he was throwing up liquid rubber. It blocked his vision as it enveloped him, and he briefly recalled his fight with the Sludge Villain. The boy faintly heard All Might calling out to him before darkness took over.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded in a super long time :/ I was really busy with school but I decided to upload while I had a little break. I'm getting to a part of the story that I've worked on really hard and am very excited to share with you! Thank you for the continuous support; I really appreciate ya'll! Please let me know how I'm doing :)

 **CHAPTER 19**

~AIZAWA~

Aizawa ignored the dozens of cameras and policemen running around the remains of the building, eyes narrowed as he skirted the rubble. The thunderous cheering for All Might did make him pause for a moment; he observed the Pro, who looked much worse than he would have liked.

All Might didn't seem to notice anyone or anything around him. Aizawa doubted he could stay on his feet much longer; he didn't have to ponder much as other heroes swarmed the man, leading him out of the public eye.

 _You did good, old man, even though that nearly killed you._

Midoriya and the other students were several feet away. A quick scan told him they were all fine, even though Midoriya's eyes seemed like they'd been replaced with water fountains.

He'd almost reached the entrance to what used to be Shigaraki's lair before a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"This is a crime scene, sir. No reporters allowed." A police officer stated grimly.

Aizawa looked down at his suit before meeting the officer's eyes.

"Pro Hero Aizawa Shota, aka Eraserhead, _not_ a reporter." He answered gruffly, and watched the man's mouth open in surprise before he lowered his gaze.

"Apologies, Mr. Aizawa. Please go ahead." The man bowed quickly and moved aside.

Several heroes and officers were already inside, lifting motionless Nomu and carting them away. No Himari.

 _Shit. I can't ask if they've seen her, but I don't see where else she could be. She wasn't taken with Bakugou and the other villains._

Not one of them appeared interested in him, which he felt occurred due to his appearance. The man ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He turned away from the destroyed wall and suddenly spotted a small hallway.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you. There's just one room with another one of those monsters ." Another officer called out dismissively.

Aizawa groaned inwardly.

"Is it subdued?"

The officer shrugged.

"Looked like it. It's just too big to take out right now and we've already got our hands full."

"Yeah, I can see that." The hero muttered as he entered the hallway.

It was small, the walls made up of the same exposed brick as the rest of the building, although it was sloppily covered in black paint. The single door on the left was slightly ajar, its knob dull.

Aizawa paused outside the entrance of the room, listening hard for any movement from inside. After being met with silence, he carefully pushed open the door.

The room was much bigger than he'd thought. It was bare, save for a small mattress and shards of wood littering the floor. A broken wooden leg lay closest to him.

 _Table. Bed. Someone used to live here._

The Nomu the officer had described was in a far corner of the room, it's massive body taking up a large quantity of the floor; blood was slowly pooling around it.

The man sighed, running a hand through his already unkempt hair.

 _Where are you?_

He turned back towards the door.

 _Fuck. I'm going to have to ask the police if they've seen her. It's the only way to find her._

A sudden animalistic groan drew his attention back to the Nomu. It looked like it was trying to turn itself over.

He allowed his wrappings to rise out from under his collar and into the air, approaching the creature slowly.

More blood seeped from under it, a mix of red and black.

Aizawa frowned.

 _It's blood is black, so why..._

His bindings quickly wrapped around the Nomu; it made another pitiful noise, although quieter this time. A shard of wood was buried in its chest.

The man pulled on the fabric, turning the creature over on its side.

"What the fuck?!"

The hero tugged viciously again, causing the Nomu to land heavily on it's back. It fell silent.

He dropped to his knees, feeling his stomach twist painfully in his gut at the sight before him.

Himari was splayed on the floor, doll-like in her stillness. One arm lay over her abdomen, while the other rested at her side; something sharp and dark with blood poked through her hand. Her left leg was clearly broken, bent at an unsettling angle; blood pooled around her head and her limbs were darkening with bruises. She looked smaller than ever in the dark pool.

Aizawa leaned carefully over the girls face, unable to speak. He tilted his head to the side, his cheek close to her nose, holding his breath.

… _please…_

After a few seconds, he felt the slightest hint of a breath warm his cheek.

Releasing his own breath in a rush, he quickly shrugged out of his suit jacket and gently laid it over the girl.

Glancing over at the Nomu, he gave another experimental tug. The creature didn't move.

He released it and his wrappings settled around his neck again. Aizawa slid a hand under Himari's head and lifted it slightly, ignoring the wet feeling. The fabric around him snaked towards her and quickly enveloped the wound. He paused for a moment, thinking.

 _How am I going to get her out of here without the reporters going off?_

~SHOUTO~

Shouto trained his eyes on the green mop of hair several feet away. As he and Yaoyorozu came closer, he recognized the backs of Iida, Ochako, and Bakugou. Ochako was holding onto Bakugou's arm tightly.

He ignored Midoriya's greeting, mostly because he couldn't understand the boy due to his incessant sobbing, and approached Bakugou.

The blonde met his eyes, no challenge in them after witnessing the triumph of the Symbol of Peace.

"Where's Himari-san?" He asked.

Bakugou's mouth straightened into a thin line.

"I think she's still in the lair. We were separated and when that black stuff transported us, she wasn't with us." He turned towards the brick building which was swarming with heroes and policemen alike.

"The police-"

The blonde turned back to Shouto, only to find him no longer there; the boy headed towards the crime scene.

"Son, you can't be this close to the scene. Go back behind the tape." An officer ordered.

The boy paused.

 _I really don't want to pull the 'Hero dad' card but I don't think I've got a choice right now._

"Listen-"

"Out of the way!"

He was interrupted by a loud voice coming from the side of the building that was torn down.

Aizawa Sensei was walking through the rubble, two other heroes flanking him as reporters ran towards them; they were prevented from getting close by a force field one of the heroes created.

This allowed Shouto to clearly see that his teacher was holding something in his arms, covered by a jacket. His heartbeat quickened as he saw feet dangling from under it.

 _Himari_

He tore through the tape, rushing towards the group. Someone grabbed his arm and he spun back furiously, frost forming on his fingertips.

"Don't. You'll bring more attention to them and they might figure out she's a student." Bakugou looked more serious than angry.

Shouto whipped his head back towards Aizawa Sensei, who was disappearing into the back of an ambulance.

"What happened to her? You were there!" The boy grabbed the blonde by the front of his shirt. He could feel the material beginning to burn under his grip.

Bakugou's eyes narrowed.

"Let go of me, Half-n-half. I don't want to fight you but I wi-" The boy suddenly slumped to the ground and Shouto scrambled to catch him.

"What-" He barely managed to look up at Midnight before he lost consciousness.

~AIZAWA~

"I have to go back and help, but let me know if anything changes." Midnight avoided his eyes as she hurried out of the room.

He suspected she didn't want him to see her tears.

"Will do," He answered, glancing back at the hospital bed.

Himari was propped up in a slight sitting position, resting.

A nurse hovered nearby, checking the machinery and pulling the blanket up higher to cover the girl.

Aizawa looked at her leg, which was in a cast and held up by a pulley. He was waiting for Recovery Girl to arrive and assess the damage.

"Sensei?" A croaky whisper broke the silence in the room.

The man leapt out of his seat and approached the bed.

Himari's eyes were slightly open, and looked as if they wanted to close again.

"I'm here, Takahashi."

He announced, not daring to touch her; the small areas of her arms that weren't bandaged were purple with bruises.

She shifted her neck slightly towards him, blinking a few times. When her eyes opened fully, he noticed blood in the sclera of one of them.

A nurse hurried out and returned with a doctor in tow. The doctor flashed a light in her eyes, watching the pupils dilate.

"Miss, can you state your name?" He asked.

The girl was silent.

The doctor glanced at Aizawa.

"He just needs your name, Takahashi." The man said softly.

 _Oops_.

Finally, she muttered her full name, staring at nothing in particular.

"Do you know where you are, Miss Takahashi?"

"Hospital, Japan. Not sure where exactly." She answered monotonously.

"Can you tell me today's date?"

"I… I was captured by the league on a Wednesday, August 6th… I don't know how long I was held for, we were put to sleep."

Himari's eyebrows knit together.

"Where's Bakugou?" She looked at Aizawa.

"He's fine, Takahashi. He was rescued without a scratch."

 _Which is the opposite of you._

Once the doctor determined the girl hadn't received any memory loss, he turned to the Hero.

"Now is a good time to call her next of kin. A nurse informed me that her emergency contact was U.A. Do you usually keep students' information private?"

"That contact is accurate." The man returned evenly. "What's the problem?"

The doctor's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh, is she-"

"Yes, now _what's the problem_?"

"No- not a problem, exactly, I'm just concerned about her leg. The other injuries including broken ribs, herniated disc and puncture wound should eventually heal without much difficulty, but the bones in her leg were totally shattered. Most of our staff with healing Quirks-"

"Recovery Girl should be here soon. She'll know what to do." The man said dismissively.

 _I don't think she is, but you're annoying me._

"Ah- right then." The doctor finished awkwardly and left.

Aizawa looked at Himari again.

She was staring at the wall, a blank look on her face.

"Takahashi… can you tell me what happened to you?" He asked quietly. "The police will probably show up soon to question you."

The girl suddenly sat up straighter, locking eyes with him.

"How did I get here? Who found me?" She asked quickly.

Aizawa frowned slightly at her alarm.

"... me," He answered cautiously.

"Where was I? Was I in a little room, in-"

"The League's lair." He finished.

"Was- was I… alone?" She seemed to struggle finding the right word.

"Besides the Nomu who I'm guessing attacked you, yes."

At this, the girl's lips formed a line, and her eyes darted around nervously.

"... Did you capture…"

If Aizawa hadn't been close to her he wouldn't have caught what she whispered.

"There was no need for capture. That thing died."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the messed up chapter. Hopefully it works now, thank you to bbymojo and Yuiitsu muni for letting me know! I'm very sorry I haven't uploaded in such a long time, and this chapter is rather short, but I wanted to give you guys something, even if it wasn't much. I've been very busy with school and taking care of a family member who unexpectedly fell ill. I'm still writing, not planning on ending this anytime soon and as always, I'm very grateful for your support and kind words! BTW, I changed my summary description for this story, but Idk how I feel about it. If anyone would like to summarize it in their own words or something, shoot me a PM:) I can add a cameo of your character or something in exchange ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 **Chapter 20**

~MIDORIYA~

"You are now dismissed." Aizawa Sensei said with a yawn and students began shuffling out of their seats and gathering their things.

Midoriya's first day back had been remarkably quiet; anyone who happened to peek inside the classroom wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary except for the occasional glance at an empty desk in the back that a few students kept looking at.

No one had asked about the occupant of said seat; he figured most of class 1-A would be too scared of the backlash from it, whether from Bakugou, Todoroki, or Aizawa Sensei himself. By now everyone knew she had been found by the surly teacher and that Bakugou and Todoroki had nearly come to blows at the scene.

"Sensei," An all too familiar voice pulled him from his thoughts and he glanced at the blonde boy who was now facing Aizawa. Everyone inside immediately stilled; despite their milling about, no one had actually exited the classroom.

Aizawa Sensei glanced at Bakugou. For a moment, there was total silence, tension spreading thickly throughout the room.

Midoriya kept his eyes on Bakugou, wondering what his next move would be.

The blonde stood firmly on both legs, his hands not nearly curling into fists but not relaxed either.

"She's stable, Bakugou. Nothing too serious." Aizawa looked stoic, something they had become slightly used to thanks to his stint with the media. He looked at Bakugou, but Midoriya had a feeling he was addressing the whole class.

The boy heard a quiet sigh somewhere; he figured it was probably from Yaoyorozu.

 _They've gotten along quite well from the beginning, I think._

Bakugou's hands stilled for a moment as he processed the hero's words.

"But she is-"

"Hurt, yes. She was attacked by a Nomu." Aizawa cut him off smoothly.

"So she's in the hospital?" This time Todoroki spoke, striding towards the man, his voice emotionless as usual. He and Bakugou wear nearly shoulder to shoulder, closer than Midoriya had ever seen them. Bakugou didn't even spare a glance in his direction. All eyes in the room seemed to be fixed on the Pro hero.

"Yes, but I won't tell you where or which room. Now is _not_ the time to visit Takahashi." His words hung in the air like a warning, whether to keep them away from their classmate or to keep their classmate away from them, Midoriya couldn't tell.

 _We have no idea what Shigaraki could've said or done to Takahashi; last time, he said he wanted her on his team. I can't ask Kacchan, he's not going to tell me anything. Maybe All Might knows?_

He began flipping through his notebook, looking for the page on the girl he felt distrustful of.

 _It's been so long since we've started school and I still don't really have much on her. Every time I try and bring it up to All Might he looks so cheerful I can't bring myself to make him feel bad. And I still don't know what she did when we fought before the Sports Festival; it was too fast and I-_

A hand slammed down on his notebook, causing it to fall onto the classroom floor. He looked up, partially confused and partially annoyed.

Bakugou, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Iida stood in front of him; Iida immediately berated Bakugou on the proper ways to get someone's attention.

"Ka-"

"Get up, we're going to figure out where Takahashi is." Bakugou growled, already in a bad mood due to Iida.

"I repeat, we are _not_ going to talk to her, and I will make sure of it. We are just going to see her and leave!" Iida glared at Todoroki and Bakugou in particular, but neither one seemed to care.

Midoriya stuffed his notebook inside his backpack and slowly followed them out of the classroom. He began to head down the hall but was yanked back by his collar.

"What are you doing?" He glanced at Todoroki, but was immediately shoved in the opposite direction by Bakugou.

"Find Aizawa Sensei and get him to stay here. We'll tail All Might and find out where Takahashi is staying." The blonde instructed.

"Why stall Aizawa?" Midoriya asked, confused.

"Because, you idiot, they've both been going to see her together but if we follow Aizawa he'll know immediately."

"We have a much higher chance of finding out at least which hospital she's in by following All Might." Yaoyorozu added, giving Midoriya an apologetic look.

The green-haired boy thought for a moment.

"That does make sense. From there we can single out which department she's in and her room." The others began to discuss their plan quietly, walking away from Midoriya.

"W-wait? I'm staying here?! Why can't I go too?" He argued, but was ignored.

"I wanna g-" He started loudly but stopped as Bakugou suddenly whirled around and grabbed him by the collar.

The others scrambled to interfere but Bakugou released the boy, who glared at him.

"I-"

"Since when the _fuck_ do you give a shit? Just do what I told you." He hissed in Midoriya's face, and the boy suddenly felt like he'd been punched in the chest.

He gaped, and looked at the others; Yaoyorozu and Iida looked concerned, but no one argued against the blonde's claim.

He tried desperately to say something, anything to negate Bakugou's words, but his throat had become so tight, nothing would come out. He felt betrayed by his thoughts; he'd never felt so negatively about someone, not even Kacchan, who had made his life a living hell for so many years.

 _What is happening to me? I'm supposed to be a Hero._

Midoriya looked up and realized he was alone once again, with nothing but tears in his eyes and a terrible feeling flooding his chest.

~HIMARI~

 _Almost there._

Himari forced her arms to carry her weight and shift her as close to the end of the bed as possible. This was proving rather difficult as one of her legs was suspended in the air with a peculiar contraption; her movements caused it to sway slightly, and she waited for it to still again.

Once it had, she stretched her arm as far as she could and felt her fingers close around cold metal.

 _Got it._

She grabbed the rod her IV bag was hanging from and pulled it close to her side; after carefully unhooking the bag, she lifted the rod and tried to hook it around the pulley that was lifting her leg. It successfully lifted the pulley, but by now the girl's arms were tired and she had to take a break.

After a few minutes, Himari stretched her arms above her head and took a deep breath, grabbing the rod once more. It was leaning across her bed, still hooked in the pulley; she gave a careful tug.

 _Shit_.

It seemed the rod was now stuck. She tugged harder, but nothing happened.

"Fuck." She clenched her fists in frustration, which only caused her pain since one was bandaged and the other had the IV needle inside.

She gripped the rod once more and began pulling on it as hard as she could; her leg swung violently.

"Come on, you stupid piece of-"

The girl almost dropped the rod as it suddenly was free and her leg landed heavily on the bed. The muscles twitched rapidly, and Himari clamped her mouth shut to keep from crying out in pain.

 _Only one more thing now._

She smiled slightly as her eyes landed on the piece of equipment that would grant her freedom at last.

A wheelchair stood a few feet away from the bed; one nurse had insisted she use her call button if she wanted to use it, blissfully unaware of the glares she'd received from the rest.

Himari chuckled slightly to herself as she remembered the woman's expression after the girl had told her to fuck off.

 _Now I wish I'd told her to bring it closer._

She extended the rod once more and managed to hook it on the arm of the wheelchair. It took some time to bring it close to her due to how heavy the chair was; after it was close to her bed, she set the rod down again and reattached the IV bag to it.

 _Now if I go back first onto the chair, my legs will still be on the bed. Then I can lift the leg thing without hurting myself. Man, I'm a genius._

Her joy was short-lived; as soon as she placed her hands on the armrests for support, Himari felt the chair move out from under her and felt herself falling. However, the chair suddenly moved forward and she landed roughly in the seat.

Someone in a nurse's uniform turned away from her and lifted the leg support, gently allowing the girl's leg to slide into place.

Himari rolled her eyes.

"Get out. I said I didn't want any of you in here." She slurred her words slightly, which reminded her that she only had precious little time to make it to the rooftop before the drugs kicked in. After her first day awake, she'd been receiving sedatives to 'keep her calm'.

 _Calm my ass. You fuckers would probably keep me tied up if it wasn't for the Pros._

The nurse glanced toward the door, then squatted in front of the girl before lowering his half-mask.

Himari's eyes widened, locking with the bright blue ones in front of her.

"Miss me?"

Her heartbeat started pounding fiercely in her chest and she faintly heard the machine start beeping rapidly. She broke eye contact and ripped the fingertip pulse off her finger. The machine stopped immediately, and her visitor cocked his head slightly.

"Won't that be a problem?" He asked casually.

"I take that thing off all the time. My heartbeat speeding up is what would make them run in here." She answered immediately, sounding much calmer than she was.

 _Why the fuck did I just say that?!_

"And you _don't_ want that?" He smirked.

"How did you get in here?" The words came out before she could stop them. A million thoughts raced through her head, causing it to throb. She forced herself to focus on it, and keep herself in the moment, although it felt like her soul was trying to exit her body.

The man shrugged to himself.

 _If he's here, that means-_

"Were you trying to make a run for it?" He gestured to the wheelchair, then laughed quietly.

His laughter caused her eyes to snap back to his face.

"Just wanted to get to the rooftop." She muttered, watching his every move, or trying to.

The man looked completely at ease, as if they were old friends catching up.

"Want some help?" He asked, pulling the mask up over his face and walking behind her.

Before she could register what was happening, he'd wheeled her to the door and tugged it open.

 _Fuck._

~SHOUTO~

Shouto crouched behind the car the others hid behind,being as quiet as possible. They were lucky Momo had the foresight to call her driver to use the vehicle as both cover and transportation. Iida stuck his head out from behind it but was shoved back by Bakugou, while Momo looked for All Might in a much more discreetly. After confirming they were safe, they emerged from behind the car and continued following him on foot.

Shouto wasn't sure how he felt about the Symbol of Peace's current state; he couldn't see him without being reminded of his father's explosive reaction.

The now bone-thin man walked slowly towards the bus stop, pausing to pull his ringing phone out of his pocket.

The group used this time to yank open the car door and scramble into the back seats.

"Wait, he's not getting on the bus!" Someone cried, which caused panic and Iida threw the door open again.

"Close the door! He's looking!"

The door was slammed shut again.

"He's getting into a car, though! Let's just stay inside!" Momo urged and looked at the boys who were now a pile of limbs holding onto the door handle due to the panic. She let out a sudden, uncharacteristic laugh at the sight of their expressions: Bakugou was furious at the fact that Shouto was sitting on top of his back, holding onto the door like his life depended on it while maintaining that serious expression, and Iida had somehow been shoved onto the car floor while yelling about the safety of vehicle seating.

Her laughter continued as they set about untangling themselves but the tension that had surrounded them since they started tailing All Might lessened greatly. It reminded Shouto of scenarios he'd encountered in books, where kids didn't worry about life-threatening people or events, and hung out with each after school because they were friends, not just because they were all working towards the same goal. He briefly wondered whether he might get to experience that someday.

The boy was pulled out of his reverie by an arm in his side from Bakugou.

His eyes turned to the blonde, who was already facing the window with a scowl.

"What?" Shouto asked, annoyed. He didn't want Bakugou to distract him from getting to the hospital but he'd be more than happy to finish the fight they'd started a few days ago.

"I said," Bakugou growled, turning back and fixing him with a glare. "Did Endeavor hear anything?"

The boy didn't have to continue for him to know he meant Himari. He shook his head, recalling a conversation that had happened what seemed like years ago.

"You know, they actually met when she was a child…" Shouto relayed Himari's encounter with his father, causing the blonde to scoff slightly in amusement.

"Sounds like her." He let the smirk slowly fall off his face as the two boys lapsed into silence.

They didn't have to say what they were both clearly thinking; they remained quiet until the car stopped, signaling their arrival.

The boy looked up at the building as he climbed out of the car, and felt an unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach.

 _Out of all places, did it have to be here?_


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Hello and sorry for not posting for so long! I've been busy with school recently but before then, I have to admit I had the biggest case of writer's block for months on end. I started to regret having posted this story and didn't think I would come back to it. This chapter is a bit short but I wanted to update at least what I had so far. Sorry again and I'm working on this story again so expect another update soon :)_

 ** _Chapter 21_**

 _~ MIDORIYA~_

 _What do I do?!_

Midoriya stood halfway between the classroom door and the teacher's lounge, wringing his hands.

"Should I let them just follow All Might like that? Aizawa really doesn't want anyone to see her…"

He thought of Bakugou's parting remark, burning his ears like fire.

"You're wrong, Kacchan. I do care." The response sounded flimsy even to him.

He sighed.

 _I care about Kacchan and the others' feelings, but I'm really not sure if this is the right thing to do. There must be a serious reason for Aizawa Sensei to not want us around her. If I don't do anything, though, they'll probably be caught and punished. I don't want that to happen, either. If-_

He looked up at the sound of a door sliding open, and panicked at the sight of Aizawa approaching him. The man's face was set in a line, and his stride didn't slow down as he neared the boy, then passed by him.

"Uh- Aizawa Sensei!" Midoriya squeaked, scrambling to follow him.

The man paused, assessing his student through bloodshot eyes.

"Yes, Midoriya?"

"Ummm…" The green-haired boy felt his mind go blank.

 _What kind of excuse would make him stay?!_

"Did you want something? I'm in a hurry." Aizawa said, prompting the boy to grip his hair in panic.

"Uhh, how do you use your rope things? They're so cool, especially since I saw your fight against Momo and Todoroki. The way you just tied them up looked so easy. Where did you get them? Did someone design them for you? Best Jeanist?"

Aizawa Sensei's face remained passive throughout Midoriya's rant, which made the boy even more nervous.

 _"_... I'll be going now." The man turned away again.

 _No no no!_

Midoriya lunged forward, grabbing his teacher's sleeve.

The man stopped, looking at the boy but Midoriya was pointedly staring at the floor. His hand was shaking as he held onto the fabric.

"Were… were you there the day T-Takahashi was… found?" His voice was shaky.

Aizawa remained silent for a moment, causing Midoriya to raise his head and meet the man's eyes.

There were tears on the verge of spilling from the boy's eyes, but his face looked determined now.

"... Let's go to my office."

 _~DABI~_

 _This thing is heavier than I thought._

The man slowly pushed the wheelchair through the hospital halls. Luckily, the elevators weren't very far from the girl's hospital room.

 _I hope this brat knows better than to say anything. She probably thinks the place is surrounded though. Considering her atti-_

"Is that Miss Takahashi?" A cheery nurse in lavender scrubs stopped the pair dead in their tracks.

 _Shit._

The woman kneeled in front of the girl, smiling brightly at her and attaching the IV rod to the wheelchair so Himari didn't have to hold it. There was no response from her end.

"It's so nice to see you getting out and about."

She stood up, finally looking at Dabi; something flickered across her features.

"Who are you again?"

"I-"

"Help me." The girl suddenly latched onto the nurse's arm.

 _Fuck._

Dabi stiffened, releasing the wheelchair; he could feel his hands start to heat up and he started scanning the hall for a quick exit.

"Thanks for the help." Himari suddenly said, releasing the nurse, who screwed her eyes shut and cradled her head in her hands.

The girl took hold of her IV stand once again, and Dabi wheeled them away as quickly as he could.

Neither one spoke again until they were safely behind closed elevator doors.

Dabi leaned against the wall, observing the girl.

 _"_ What did you do to that nurse?" He released a breath quietly.

She waved a bandaged hand in the air nonchalantly.

"Just gave her a taste of her own medicine." This was apparently very funny to the girl; she burst out laughing.

Dabi's eyebrows furrowed.

"You're pretty calm for someone who's completely defenseless and in a dangerous situation." He said drily.

"It's the drugs. It's a good thing I was able to transfer some of the dosage or I'd probably be passed out right now. I hate perky people."

The elevator doors slowly opened and the girl wheeled herself up a small ramp and pushed open the door to the rooftop.

Dabi watched her scan the area, looking for the rest of the League he knew wouldn't be there.

 _Maybe they don't trust you enough to tell you these things_.

"Well, you're not acting very dangerous. We're still in the hospital."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"And as for the defenseless part…"

She eyed the IV rod, but grabbed the tubing just as Dabi lunged for the rod.

The man smirked.

"You missed."

Himari swiftly wrapped the tubes around her neck and glanced at him.

"Did I?"

Her pupils were almost the size of her irises and looked slightly glazed.

"You're… high?"

"As a kite." Himari looked gleeful.

 _How did I get so lucky?_

He chuckled.

"You're not going to hurt me."

 _Not right now, anyways.  
_ The girl smiled goofily.

"Why not? I've done worse."

Suddenly, she yanked the tube tightly around her neck.

Dabi steeled himself for the suffocating feeling to begin, but it never started.

Instead, the girl gasped and loosened the tubes, massaging her throat. She coughed a few times, eyes narrowed.

"Damn drugs. Why'd they work so well?" She smiled again.

"How does that Quirk of yours work anyway?" He asked, curious.

"If I'm the one getting the damage, it's way easier to transfer it back to you, but if I'm doing it to myself and trying to make it affect you, I have to be way more focused. It was a long shot expecting that to work, really."

She looked at him again.

"Are you stalling until the rest of them get here? Is Shadow Guy gonna pop out of that corner? Or over there?"

She looked down.

"Maybe he'll open up a portal and I'll fall straight down, trap-door style?" She laughed again.

"The magician has to be around here too, and knife girl. You guys should hire one of these nurses, they can do the same job as the magician." She said conversationally.

He scoffed.

"I'm capable of doing things without them for your information. I've done much more on my own than with the 'League'."

He turned away from the girl, taking in the expansive view of the city.

 _They're too stupid to work independently and that freak Tomura is pretty much useless right now. I should've killed him when I had the chance, but it's too late now. That fool Kurogiri is protecting him too well. If I'd known he could be weakened so easily I wou-_

Dabi's thoughts were cut off as he suddenly couldn't breathe; he felt his mouth open, uselessly trying to take in air as his hands clawed at his throat. His eyes bulged as he glanced at the girl, who had rewrapped the tubing around her own neck.

"It's working!" She grinned at him as his lungs burned and the edges of his vision darkened.

He shakily raised his hand in her direction; weak blue tendrils lapped at his palm, not even close to reaching the girl.

"No burning for you, mister." She giggled and tightened the tubing even more.

"S- st-"

He tried to speak but suddenly fell to his knees, his mind growing hazy.

 _She's not going to kill me, is she? Fuck, this is what I get for trying to do the right thing._

"Hey, don't pass out on me."

Suddenly the pressure around his throat disappeared and he fully collapsed on the floor, coughing painfully. The only sound on the rooftop was that of the man taking in as much air as he could.

After a few moments, he lifted himself into a sitting position, rubbing his neck and glaring at the girl.

 _No wonder Shigaraki wants her Quirk. That is no fucking joke._

"I… just… wanted… to t-talk." He said slowly, his voice raspy.

"I'm… alone."

The girl stared at him, expressionless.

"Prove it." She said.

He rolled his eyes, coughing a few times to clear his throat.

"If the… others were here… they would've… hurt you when… when you were… choking me… No one knows… I'm here."

He stood up carefully, eyes slightly watery.

"Luckily for you, I'm going to overlook this incident."

The girl laughed.

"I don't think you have a choice." She countered. "That was just a reminder, mister. I already know what you're capable of."

The man reached in his scrub pocket for a carton of cigarettes, reevaluating his plan.

 _I better make it quick and get the hell out of here. This kid is smarter than I thought._

"Listen, I have valuable information you want. I just wanted to have a civilized chat with you." He began, placing a cigarette between his lips and lighting it with his finger. He took a long drag and released a cloud of smoke before looking at her again.

She was looking at him curiously.

"Does smoking hurt you even though you can produce fire? Can you walk through regular fire and not get burned? Is your body temperature like a million degrees?"

Dabi almost dropped the cigarette from his mouth before bringing a hand to his temple.

 _Why..._  
"Did you not hear what I just said? You are starting to try my patience." He glared at the girl, who didn't seem to notice.

She pointed to his pocket.

"Give me one."

He laughed humorlessly.

 _What the hell is wrong with this kid?_

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

The girl suddenly smirked.  
"Why not? You concerned for my health or something?"

"God, why are you so childish? Fine."

He tossed the carton at her, frustration increasing.

She caught it easily and turned towards Dabi with a cigarette in her mouth.

He scoffed.

"Come on!" She muttered, trying to keep the cylinder between her lips.

The man ignored her; suddenly he felt something wrap around his wrist and his hand was jerked towards the girl's face.

"Light it up, man!"

Dabi's eyes became glued to her fingers that were closed around his wrist, touching the skin that had permanently changed all those years ago. The scars. Her index finger rested lightly on a staple.

After a few seconds of silence, she shook it slightly, bringing the man back to the present.

He ripped his hand away, unconsciously running his thumb over the spot she'd touched as if she had burned him.

She frowned at him, then looked at her own palm.

"Is it the bandage?" She asked, waving her hand at him; it was wrapped in gauze, red blooming in the middle of her palm.

"Calm down, I didn't leave any blood on you." She quirked an eyebrow.

"You're pretty squeamish for a criminal. Just help me out for a second."

Dabi stared at the girl for a moment before reaching towards her, a small flame dancing on his fingertip.

He stopped a few inches away from the end of the cigarette, causing her to huff in annoyance and grab his wrist with the opposite hand; this time she held onto it until the butt was properly lit.

"God, that took forever." She blew a cloud of smoke in his direction and grinned; he leaned away, grimacing.

"Alright then, what did you want to talk about?"


End file.
